According to a news release issued by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) on Wednesday, an airstrike by the U.S. the previous Sunday killed an estimated 13 al-Shabab militants in Somalia. The August 14 airstrike is AFRICOM’s fifth confirmed strike against the Islamic militant group this year.
In May, U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the deployment of hundreds of special operations forces to Somalia, reversing former President Donald Trump’s late-presidency withdrawal of counterinsurgency forces that had been stationed in the country for more than a decade, PBS reported.
The airstrike was carried out in partnership with the federal government of Somalia, the country’s fragile central government at odds with al-Shabab. U.S. troops assigned to the East Africa Response Force train at the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia.
There have been no reported civilian deaths due to airstrikes against al-Shabab this year, including the attack on Sunday, according to AFRICOM. On the other hand, human rights organizations accused AFRICOM in 2020 of failing to report civilian deaths from airstrikes.
“The Federal Government of Somalia and U.S. Africa Command take great measures to prevent civilian casualties,” AFRICOM said. “These efforts contrast with the indiscriminate attacks that al-Shabaab regularly conducts against the civilian population.”
The militants were reported to be “actively attacking” Somali National Army forces near the remote village of Teedaan, nearly 200 miles north of Mogadishu, according to the news release.
Though the number of strikes in Somalia has increased since U.S. troops returned under Biden, the Trump administration also saw some combat before the withdrawal order in December 2020.
One American soldier was killed in Somalia in 2018, another in early 2020, and dozens more were quietly recognized for their service in 2019 at an obscure Somali airfield.
The main goal of Al-Shabab, which reportedly pledged allegiance to al-Qaida in 2012, is to destabilize the Somali government and install a fundamentalist Islamic regime in its place. The militant group controls large swaths of Somalia’s countryside.
According to AFRICOM, apparent violent extremist organizations like al-Shabaab present long-term threats to Somali, regional, and U.S. interests.
