Jeff Seldin
Saturday June 4, 2022
FILE - A soldier walks past rubble in the aftermath of an attack on the Afrik Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, Feb. 1, 2021. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the deadly assault.
WASHINGTON — The
United States has targeted al-Qaida-linked fighters in Somalia, launching its
first airstrike since announcing U.S. special operations forces would again be
based in the Horn of Africa nation.
Somalia's Ministry of Information announced the airstrike
Friday on Twitter, saying it had targeted al-Shabab militants near Beer Xaani,
west of the southern city of Kismayo, after they had attacked Somali forces.
Initial estimates indicated that five al-Shabab fighters
were killed and that there were no civilian casualties, the Somali announcement
said.
So far, neither the Pentagon nor U.S. Africa Command has
shared any details about the incident.
Friday's airstrike against al-Shabab is the first since the
U.S. announced in mid-May that it would reestablish what it described as a
"small, persistent U.S. military presence" in Somalia, following a
December 2020 decision by the previous U.S. administration to pull out troops
that had been stationed in the country.
Senior U.S. administration officials last month called the
decision by former President Donald Trump to end the persistent U.S. presence
in Somalia a mistake, arguing it gave al-Shabab, already seen as the largest,
wealthiest and most dangerous al-Qaida affiliate, a chance to regenerate.
Al-Shabab "has unfortunately only grown stronger,"
a senior U.S. official told reporters. "It has increased the tempo of its
attacks, including against U.S. personnel."
Pentagon officials have described the move, which will see
fewer than 500 U.S. special operators working out of Somalia, as a
repositioning, noting U.S. troops had been flying into the country to
periodically work with the Somali military.
New Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed the
change, thanking U.S. President Joe Biden on social media.
Like a number of high-profile U.S. military officials, some
Somali officials had been lobbying for the return of a U.S. military presence
to help with the fight against al-Shabab.
"This was a wrong decision taken. Withdrawal was a
hasty decision," a senior adviser to Mohamud told VOA, ahead of the
official announcement about the return of the U.S. presence.
"It disrupted counterterrorism operations," said
the Somali adviser, who asked not to be named because his position in the
administration had not yet been made public. "To reinstate and start with
the new president is the right decision, and it came at the right time."
Somali officials have also said they hope a persistent U.S.
military presence in Somalia will lead to an uptick in airstrikes against the
group.
So far this year, U.S. Africa Command has publicly confirmed
only one airstrike, on February 22, against al-Shabab fighters near Duduble,
Somalia. It has not yet commented on the strike reported Friday by Somali
authorities.
It is not clear how many, if any, U.S. forces are currently
operating in Somalia. Senior U.S. officials said last month it would "take
a little bit of time to reach that full implementation stage."
Intelligence estimates from United Nations member states and
shared earlier this year put the number of al-Shabab fighters at close to
12,000 while warning the al-Qaida affiliate has been raising as much as $10
million a month to fund its activities.