A U.S. airstrike took out 20 al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia on Monday, a day after another strike that killed 35 insurgents.
It’s the latest strike in an aggressive campaign by the United States against the radical Islamic group. President Donald Trump approved the Pentagon’s expanded strategy for targeting al-Shabaab in spring of 2017, and since then the U.S. has taken out hundreds of militants with targeted airstrikes.
U.S. kills 20 al-Shabaab fighters
U.S. Africa Command said Tuesday that the strike targeted a terrorist training camp near Shebeeley in the Hiran region, from which the al-Qaeda linked group was carrying out attacks on the city of Beledweyne.
“In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces targeted al-Shabaab militants, in the vicinity of Shebeeley, Hiran Region, Somalia, on February 25, 2019, to degrade its ability to plan and execute attacks against the Somali people,” Africom said.
“It is assessed this airstrike killed 20 terrorists and destroyed one vehicle,” they said. No civilians were killed.
“We are committed to supporting our Somali partners in our shared goal of diminishing al-Shabaab’s networks and disrupting its operations,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Hadfield, U.S. Africa Command deputy director of intelligence. “This precision airstrike successfully targeted an encampment from which al-Shabaab could stage, coordinate, and execute attacks on Beledweyne.”
The strike came just a day after another in the Hiran region took out 35 al-Shabaab fighters as they were moving through a rural area. The U.S. also took out two fighters in four airstrikes over the weekend that targeted checkpoints the group uses to extort “taxes” to fund their terrorism.
Airstrike campaign to support local efforts
The United States has aggressively stepped up strikes against al-Shabaab since 2017, with some 23 strikes this year killing more than 200 fighters. Some 47 strikes last year killed 323 terrorists.
The U.S. is supporting Somalia’s U.N.-backed government in the African nation’s fight against the terror group, which attacks military convoys and terrorizes civilians. American military leaders cautioned that the strikes alone won’t be enough to eliminate al-Shabaab.
“At the end of the day, these strikes are not going to defeat al-Shabaab,” Marine Corp. General Thomas Waldhauser told the Senate Armed Services Committee this month.
A coalition of African military forces have been fighting al-Shabaab for years, but the U.S. is looking to create some space with airstrikes for the local military to take on more responsibility in their fight against the terror group.
“U.S. Africa Command will continue to work with its partners to transfer the responsibility for long-term security in Somalia from AMISOM to the Federal Government of Somalia and its Member States. In support of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces will use all effective and appropriate methods to assist in the protection of the Somali people, including partnered military counter-terror operations with the Federal Government of Somalia, AMISOM and Somali National Army forces,” Africom said.
Al-Shabaab has lost control of towns and cities in recent years since being driven out of Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital city, but it continues to threaten East Africa with attacks from rural areas in the southern and central regions of Somalia.
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