The governor of Kenya’s Mandera County recently stated that Shabaab is controlling “over 50 percent’ of northern Kenya and “more than 60 percent” of Mandera. Kenyan authorities have quickly scrambled to contradict these claims.
Shabaab killed several military officials in a suicide bombing today in Galkayo. This is just the latest in a renewed assassination campaign that has targeted a wide range of high profile Somali leaders this year.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss President Trump’s decision to order the withdrawal of a small American force from Somalia. Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, will continue to fight on, waging an insurgency against the Somali government while threatening countries throughout the region and possibly elsewhere as well.
The effort to degrade and contain Shabaab without will be all the more difficult without a U.S. presence in the country.
Shabaab briefly occupied a Somali military base and its adjacent town yesterday following a major assault in central Somalia.
At least one US soldier was wounded in the blast, while two Somali troops were also killed. This is the third time the group has reported clashing with American troops inside Somalia since Aug. 24.
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn discuss what al Qaeda looks like in 2020.
AFRICOM has stepped up its air campaign against Shabaab since the beginning of the year, targeting the group 33 times.
U.S. Africa Command said it killed the Shabaab commander was “in charge of planning and directing terrorist operations” along the Kenyan border, including the raid on the Manda Bay Airfield. Three Americans were killed in that attack.
The strike takes place as US and African Union backed Somali forces attempt to wrest territory held by Shabaab. US Africa Command recently estimated that Shabaab controls one quarter of Somalia’s territory.
If the current pace of strikes continues, the US will strike Shabaab 130 times in 2019. Is this a prelude to disengagement?
The US military’s air campaign against Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, continues to intensify. AFRICOM launched five more airstrikes against Shabaab over the weekend.
The two latest strikes took place in a town where Shabaab is dominant. The US air campaign against Shabaab continues to intensify and is on pace to quickly outstrip last year’s strike total.
Since the New Year, US Africa Command has hit Shabaab 14 times. AFRICOM acknowledges that the air campaign is not sufficient to defeat Shabaab, but can only support the Somali government’s efforts.
The strikes were launched to “prevent terrorists from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire, and recruit for future attacks,” AFRICOM noted.
The last three strikes against Shabaab have taken place in an area where foreign al Qaeda fighters have historically sheltered. AFRICOM has targeted Shabaab 40 times throughout Somalia in 2018.
The US military hit al Qaeda’s branches in Somalia and Libya twice over the past several days, killing 20 fighters in strikes that appear to have targeted the groups’ military capacity.
The US military has launched six airstrikes in the central Somali province of Mudug since Nov. 19, killing at least 55 Shabaab fighters.
The US military is clearly targeting Shabaab in Mudug province. There have been five strikes there in the past four days and 50 Shabaab fighters are reported to have been killed in the attacks.
The pattern of the strikes, which took place in central Somalia, indicates that al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa either has an established base in the area, or that it was massing its fighters for a large scale attack.
A large concentration of Shabaab fighters a significant distance from its typical support zone in Jubba River Valley demonstrates the Al Qaeda affiliate’s resilience across Somalia.
The United States has conducted 24 strikes in Somalia in 2018, all of which have targeted Shabaab. The strike occurred near a town that was liberated by Somali forces just two days ago.
Al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa “still maintained control over large portions of the country” and “retained the ability to carry out high-profile attacks” in 2017 despite increased targeting by the US military, the African Union, and the Somali government.
The strike is the second against Shabaab, which is al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, in Somalia that has been reported by U.S. Africa Command this month.
AFRICOM noted that Shabaab, which is al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, continues to maintain “training camps” and “safe havens throughout Somalia and the region.”
In the past six months, US forces have thrice interdicted Shabaab car bombs and prevented imminent attacks against civilians in the Somalia capital, Mogadishu.
The United States attacked al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia in the southern town of Jilib, a recurring strike location and known Shabaab safe haven.
State added Ahmad Iman Ali, the leader of Shabaab’s network in Kenya, and Abdifatah Abubakar Abdi, a dangerous Kenyan commander, to its list of Specially Designated Global terrorists.
In the first strike of 2018, US forces have again halted an imminent car bomb attack intended for Somalia’s capital.
AFRICOM has stepped up operations against al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa. The US military has now targeted Shabaab forces five times and killed 10 fighters over the past week.