The United States attacked members of the Islamist Al Shabaab militia in Somalia

The United States carried out a drone operation on Tuesday against militants of the Somali armed group Al Shabaab, how the first air strike against members of Islamist militias linked to Al-Qaeda since the start of President Joe Biden’s mandate.

Pentagon spokeswoman Cindi King said the attack was carried out by military planes against fighters from the group who attacked members of the Danab Brigade, a Somali army command trained by the United States. .

Concretely, the military action was carried out on Tuesday around 11 a.m. (local time) by the American Command for Africa (AFRICOM) near the northern town of Galkayo, King detailed, as reported The New York Times.

Likewise, he indicated that the American trainers remotely alerted Danab’s commandos during the militia attack, so “There were no US forces accompanying the Somali forces during the operation.”

The Pentagon spokeswoman also pointed out that fighting between Al Shabaab and Somali forces has delayed the assessment of the airstrike against members of the armed group, the seventh in 2021 but the first since the start of the Biden administration. in January.

When you arrive at the White House, Biden initiated a policy review on drone strikes and commando incursions outside conventional war zones and placed time limits on such military actions..

The US president took this position after former President Donald Trump relaxed the rules for drone strikes in his tenure. The hill.

In this regard, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby assured in March that any plan to attack outside of Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq had to be presented to the White House “to ensure that the president has full visibility on the significant actions proposed.”

In this case, King stressed that White House approval was not necessary because AFRICOM has the power to carry out attacks in support of Allied forces in what the military calls collective self-defense. .

BACKGROUND

In January of that year, an airstrike by United States Africa Command forces, in coordination with the federal government of Somalia, against a terrorist outpost killed a terrorist from the Islamic Al Shabab movement and destroyed a compound of the same group near the town of Buulo Mareer, in the southwest of the country.

“This attack on Buulo Mareer, combined with other recent ones, shows our determination and degrades Al Shabab’s ability to threaten Somalia and its neighbors.Said U.S. Air Force General Dagvin Anderson, also the commander of Joint Task Force – Quartz.

Anderson added that in collaboration with US partners, “we plan to leave no safe place for Al Shabab to hide.”

Al Shabaab – linked to the terrorist organization Al Qaida – increased attacks against government troops, the African Union mission in Somalia and UN humanitarian operations in 2020.

(with EP information)

KEEP READING: