Washington ? To coordinate U.S. military operations against terrorists in Yemen and elsewhere in the vicinity, the Pentagon is establishing a Task Force Horn of Africa, to be based in the tiny country of Djibouti, between Somalia and Ethiopia.

A headquarters element of the 2nd Marine Division, numbering about 400 troops, will head the command, officials said. It initially will operate from a Navy ship in the Red Sea, probably the command ship USS Mount Whitney, for the 60 to 90 days it likely will take to build a command post ashore.

There already are about 800 Army Special Forces soldiers in Djibouti. More Marines could be added later, officials said. They described the arrangement as a significant step forward in the global war on terrorism, likening the task force to a similar command running operations in Afghanistan.