A single American military airstrike killed at least 100 fighters allied with the Somali-based terror group al-Shabab, the Pentagon revealed Tuesday, adding to an escalating body count as the Trump administration ramps up its counterterrorism campaign in the West African nation.
U.S. forces working with the Somalian government on Tuesday confirmed an American sortie against a suspected al-Shabab camp ended with more than 100 fighters dead. The strike, which took place 125 miles west of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, was the largest casualty count racked up by U.S. warplanes operating in Somalia this month.
And the Pentagon said the up-tempo pace will not fade quickly.
“U.S. forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats” working with the African Union and Somali federal forces, the U.S. Africa Command said in a statement shortly after Tuesday’s strike.
Reached by the Reuters news service, al-Shabab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab denied the attack.
“It is just … propaganda,” he said.
But Somalia’s state news agency SONNA reported late on Tuesday that “about 100 militants” had indeed been killed when U.S. planes and Somali commandos attacked al-Shabab bases in the Bur Elay area of Bay region.
The attack on the al-Shabab compound was the fifth by American fighters against targets associated with the terror group that has been fighting a deadly insurgent war against the weak Somalian government.
Several militants were killed during a pair of initial airstrikes on Nov. 3, while several more died during a Nov. 14 U.S. strike on an al-Shabab target 60 miles northwest of Mogadishu, command officials confirmed at the time.
There are currently 500 U.S. military personnel stationed in Somalia, supporting and leading counterterrorism operations in the country, Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said earlier this month. He declined to comment on the exact number of al-Shabab fighters based in the country, or whether other terror groups like Islamic State were gaining a foothold in the Horn of Africa.
In one of its first national security actions, the Trump administration in May ordered an escalation of American-led operations against al-Shabab’s network in Somalia. The order came weeks after Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken was killed in a Navy SEALs raid against a known al-Shabab stronghold in the country
His death was the first U.S. casualty in Somalia since 18 American soldiers were killed during the infamous “Black Hawk Down” incident in 1993.
Earlier this month the U.S. warned of a threat to American diplomatic personnel in Mogadishu and directed all nonessential staff to leave the capital.
Al-Shabab has lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns since it was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011. But it retains a strong presence in parts of the south and center and carries out terror attacks, Reuters reported.
⦁ This article was based in part on wire service reports.
© Copyright (c) 2017 News World Communications, Inc.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
—-
Don’t leave yet! Please join in the discussions. Comment on this story by clicking here.
Join the discussion
Under Obama and Hillary we could not seek them out and kill them as this would breed more terrorists, and 8 years later there are more terrorists than cooties in in a liberal crotch. Somehow when Trump leaves office, unlike Obama, the terrorist population will be significantly diminished, and America will be a lot safer. Now if we could only do the same thing with Liberal Democrats. Does ANYONE feel safer after 8 years of Obama?
No i feel LESS safe after obama’s 8 yr debacle of a rule.. Trump’s not been in office a full year yet, and i already feel safer..
Somalia is in east Africa.
The Media has been greatly under-reporting the many significant victories Trump has been racking up against ISIS. He’s going for the throat, and getting the host countries to join him in crushing ISIS.
ISIS does not deserve to exist. It’s not a country in the traditional sense of a “nation state”, but more of a movement. As such it does not earn protections under the Geneva Convention. The thresholds and definitions in the GC were intentional, to prevent us from protecting criminals, terrorists, guerillas, and the like.
Uniformed soldiers representing a country have to follow certain rules. If we capture them we treat their wounded and feed them, expecting the same for any of our soldiers they capture.
Terrorists don’t wear uniforms, and do their best to blend into local populations to increase the civilian body count. They don’t follow standard rules of engagement, and we know they won’t treat any of our soldiers with dignity if captured.
The people of the countries where ISIS thrived hated them. But most countries love and admire their own soldiers.
I’m saying all this because in a day or two some nitwit liberal is going to cry about how poorly we’re treating the ISIS “soldiers” and how we’re not following the GC. Yes we are. They aren’t uniformed combatants. That term isn’t a figure of speech. It’s critical to understanding the GC.
[The Media has been greatly under-reporting the many significant victories Trump has been racking up against ISIS. He’s going for the throat, and getting the host countries to join him in crushing ISIS.]
And its CAUSE he is being successful the media won’t say one damn thing about it.. THEY DON’T want to acknowledge his success..