Latest news with #alShabab
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
US airstrikes surge in Somalia, surpassing 2024 numbers
The U.S. military has carried out more than two dozen airstrikes on targets in Somalia in the first five months of this year, double the total number of strikes in 2024. The escalation of the air war comes as the United States is 'actively pursuing and eliminating jihadists' in the country, at the request of Somalia's government, Gen. Michael Langley, head of U.S. Africa Command, said in a May 30 briefing. The air campaign has targeted ISIS militants and fighters with the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group, which continues to fight for territory against the federal Somali government. While Langley claimed 25 separate strikes, American forces carried out 33 airstrikes on Somalia this year, Kelly Cahalan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Africa Command, told Task & Purpose this week. New America, which tracks airstrikes in Somalia and other countries the United States is militarily engaged in, reports 34 total airstrikes in 2025. Between 109-174 people have been killed so far, per New America. Langley noted that the purpose of the air campaign is to back Somali military operations on the ground against ISIS members and al-Shabab fighters. He said that the rising number of strikes 'have achieved tactical gains against both groups.' Langley emphasized a 'moral imperative' in protecting civilians in strikes. It's unclear how many civilians have been killed by American airstrikes this year. Over the last two decades, at least 33 civilians died as a result of those bombings. In February, the USS Harry S. Truman — operating in the waters around Yemen and the Horn of Africa to fight Houthis in Yemen — carried out a major airstrike on Somalia. More than a dozen aircraft from the Truman Carrier Strike Group dropped 124,000 pounds of munitions on ISIS fighters on Feb. 1, killing 14. The acting chief of naval operations initially called it the 'largest air strike in the history of the world' earlier this month, although the Navy walked that back, qualifying it in terms of the amount of firepower sent by a single aircraft carrier. Since the start of the Global War on Terror, the United States has regularly bombed Somalia. The first post-9/11 strike occurred in 2007 under the George W. Bush administration, which carried out a dozen total. Barack Obama's presidency saw that quadruple. But the largest expansion happened during Donald Trump's first term, with 219 airstrikes reported, per Airwars. The Biden administration drastically scaled back its air campaign in the country, carrying out 51 over four years, even as the U.S. redeployed several hundred troops to the country. In the first four months of the second Trump administration the U.S. has already carried out approximately half as many strikes. 18 Army Rangers suspended for allegedly firing blanks at Florida beach Hegseth announces accountability review of Afghanistan withdrawal Coast Guard rescue swimmers saved a worker stuck in hardening concrete after roof collapse This National Guard unit went completely analog to simulate a cyber attack Fewer reenlistment options for soldiers amid high Army retention
Fox News
27-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
US conducts airstrike against Al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia
U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab over the weekend in Somalia. The airstrike by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) targeted an area nearly 40 miles northwest of Kismayo, Somalia, where al-Shabab was reportedly located. According to a press release from AFRICOM, al-Shabab "has proven both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces." "AFRICOM, alongside the Federal Government of Somalia and Somali Armed Forces, continues to take action to degrade al-Shabab's ability to plan and conduct attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, our forces, and our citizens abroad," the press release read. No further details about units and assets were released to ensure continued security of operations. The East African country of Somalia has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and al-Shabab. U.S. Africa Command reported in April that it had carried out four airstrikes: three against ISIS terrorists and one against al-Shabab. At least one of these strikes, the command stated, was against multiple targets. For years, the U.S. has helped Somali forces with airstrikes and other support against the al-Shabab extremist group. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, in March, drafted a letter to Trump offering the U.S. exclusive access to air bases and seaports, which reignited tensions between the government of Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland, the Associated Press reported. In the letter, Somalia offered "exclusive operational control" over the Berbera and Baledogle air bases and the ports of Berbera and Bosaso to "bolster American engagement in the region." One of the ports, Berbera, is in a key city located in Somaliland, whose long assertion as an independent state has not received international recognition. Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government. It maintains its own government, security forces and currency and has held elections.
Washington Post
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
How U.S. cuts in Somalia could imperil the fight against al-Shabab
As President Donald Trump overhauls U.S. policy in Africa — slashing foreign aid programs and paring back assistance for allied forces in the region — al-Shabab militants are on the march in Somalia. One of al-Qaeda's best-funded and most lethal global affiliates, al-Shabab has retaken important towns from Somali forces over the past three months. Its fighters previously launched an assault on a U.S. airfield in Kenya and plotted attacks on the U.S. mainland.
The Independent
22-05-2025
- The Independent
Nairobi court finds 2 men guilty of aiding al-Shabab militants in 2019 hotel attack
Two Kenyan men charged with facilitating the 2019 attack on a luxury hotel complex that left 21 people dead were found guilty on Thursday and will be sentenced next month. Judge Diana Kavedza, while sitting a court in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, ruled that the prosecution had proved that Hussein Mohamed Abdille Ali and Mohamed Abdi Ali sent money and helped acquire fake identification documents for the militants who died during the DusitD2 hotel complex attack. Al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred six years after 67 people were killed at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall and four years after 147 students died at Garissa University in the north of the country. Based in neighboring Somalia, Al-Shabab have vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight it since 2011, and continue to stage attacks in Somalia and Kenya. Kenyan authorities said all five attackers died during the Dusit attack. The prosecution presented 45 witnesses during the trial. On Thursday, the judge ordered a probation report to be prepared within 21 days and set sentencing for June 19. A third suspect, Mire Abdulahi, who had been charged alongside the two men had earlier pleaded guilty and was sentenced. Foreign nationals, including an American and a Briton, were among those killed in the 2019 attack. ____
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Associated Press
Nairobi court finds 2 men guilty of aiding al-Shabab militants in 2019 hotel attack
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two Kenyan men charged with facilitating the 2019 attack on a luxury hotel complex that left 21 people dead were found guilty on Thursday and will be sentenced next month. Judge Diana Kavedza, while sitting a court in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, ruled that the prosecution had proved that Hussein Mohamed Abdille Ali and Mohamed Abdi Ali sent money and helped acquire fake identification documents for the militants who died during the DusitD2 hotel complex attack. Al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred six years after 67 people were killed at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Mall and four years after 147 students died at Garissa University in the north of the country. Based in neighboring Somalia, Al-Shabab have vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight it since 2011, and continue to stage attacks in Somalia and Kenya. Kenyan authorities said all five attackers died during the Dusit attack. The prosecution presented 45 witnesses during the trial. On Thursday, the judge ordered a probation report to be prepared within 21 days and set sentencing for June 19. A third suspect, Mire Abdulahi, who had been charged alongside the two men had earlier pleaded guilty and was sentenced. Foreign nationals, including an American and a Briton, were among those killed in the 2019 attack. ____ Follow AP's Africa coverage at:
