(CNN) The US military is weighing significantly drawing down the number of US Special Operations Forces in Africa despite senior military officials warning that the terrorist threat in Africa is increasing, three defense officials tell CNN.

The planned reductions are intended to help better align the US military's posture with the Trump administration's new defense strategy which focuses more on near-peer competitors like Russia and China as opposed to counterterrorism missions.

US Africa Command, which oversees US troops on the continent, has submitted to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff a plan to significantly reduce the number of US forces in Africa, the majority of which work to help countries there battle terrorist groups.

It is not clear whether Secretary of Defense James Mattis will approve the proposal.

"No decisions or changes have been made yet to the forces operating in Africa," Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Sheryll Klinkel told CNN.

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