This content was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, claimed to have ordered military strikes against a senior “attack planner” of the Islamic State ( IS ) extremist group in Somalia who had been hiding out with other members in the impoverished East African nation.
The military activity on February 1 marked Trump’s first since he took office on January 20 for his second term.
” These murders, who we found lying in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies”, Trump said in a statement.
” The scares destroyed the rocks they live in, and killed some terrorists without, in any way, harming citizens”.
Trump continued, adding that the U.S. army had been pursuing the attack planner for years but that it was unable to remove him until his term. No name was given to the goal.
Security key Pete Hegseth , said an initial evaluation indicated “multiple” militants were killed in the problems. No residents were hurt, he added.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, president of Somalia, stated that he had been informed of the airstrike and that he had expressed his “deepest thanks for the unwavering support of the United States in our shared fight against terrorism.”
Mohamud said U. S. terrorism efforts are “highly valued and welcomed in Somalia” and he praised what he called Trump’s “bold and significant leadership”.
The Cal Miskaad Mountains in the Golis range were the site of the attack, according to Puntland’s position info minister, Mohamud Aidid Dirir, who told Reuters.
” The number of deaths is unfamiliar as it was dark. But our troops on the front line may hear the sound of bombs”, he said.
The IS affiliates in Somalia has experienced counterterrorism operations from U.S. airstrikes and attacks from Yemeni security forces, but it has continued to operate, primarily in the Puntland area.
In the past, the U.S. government has carried out air attacks in Somalia that target criminal strongholds under both Republican and Democratic services.
U. S. activity in Somalia is probably best known from the 2001 video” Black Hawk Down”, the tale about a U. S. plane shot down in Mogadishu during the region’s civil war in 1993.
Some of the U.S. terrorism work in Africa have suffered as a result of the demand from Chad and Niger, two of its original companions, for U.S. forces to leave their nations. In recent years, Russia has begun to increase its impact in the area.
