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.
Despite decrying America’s role in “endless wars,” President Trump recently defended the role of a small U.S. force in the country.
In two days, Shabaab has launched two suicide assaults across southern Somalia. Additionally, it continues to target high-ranking government officials in a renewed assassination campaign.
Shabaab’s suicide bombing against Somalia’s top general is the latest in the group’s recent attacks against government officials. The bombing also continues the current spate of increased suicide bombings across the country.
In the span of four days, the Al Qaeda branch has claimed the use of two suicide car bombings on Somali and Turkish military bases in two different areas of Somalia.
The month of May saw a relative spike in Islamic State claims inside Somalia compared to earlier months. However, this comes in the backdrop of several Puntland security operations against it.
The Al Qaeda branch claims its men enacted “heavy losses” to AMISOM and Kenyan troops in southern Somalia. African Union troops and the Somali government have stated otherwise, however.
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.
Al-Qaeda’s senior leadership released a statement praising the jihadists in Mali and elsewhere in Western Africa for confronting the “Crusaders.” Al-Qaeda’s management team encourages them to dismantle the “French and American project” across the region.
Ali Mohamud Rage, a senior Shabaab official, has released a video concerning the group’s assault on the Manda Bay Airfield earlier this week. Three Americans were killed during the attack, which Rage says was “carried out under the guidance and direction” of Ayman al-Zawahiri.
One U.S. service member and two Defense Department contractors were killed during a raid by Shabaab on the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya earlier today. U.S. AFRICOM accused the al-Qaeda arm of exaggerating the effects of its operation, which is true. But the jihadists still managed to infiltrate an airfield used by the U.S. and its allies to combat the group.
Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s regional branch in East Africa, assaulted the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya earlier today. The extent of the damage is unclear, but at least some aircraft and equipment was set ablaze.
Yesterday’s assault marks at least the third time the SYL Hotel has been targeted by Shabaab in recent years.
The Department of Justice has unsealed an updated indictment against Jehad Serwan Mostafa, an American who has long served as a senior figure in Shabaab. The FBI alleges that Mostafa has played a role in Shabaab’s explosives department, among other jobs. In 2011, he served as an emissary for Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Shabaab claims this is the first time the organization has grabbed territory in Somaliland.
Two statements, which were released by al Qaeda’s general command and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, were addressed to Shabaab yesterday in a coordinated messaging campaign.
Shabaab, just days after launching assaults on US and Italian troops, has now also claimed two IEDs on a US-trained Somali special forces unit.
No casualties were reported in either attack, however.
The camp is at least the second one ran by the Islamic State in Somalia’s northern Puntland region.
Shabaab’s “Then Fight the Leaders of Disbelief” video series features clips of various al Qaeda figures from the past and present. Shabaab argues that Somali hotels are legitimate targets because they serve as “heavily fortified bases” for the government and its allies.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, claims it tried to assassinate James Swan, a US diplomat and the UN Special Envoy to Somalia.
The al Qaeda branch continues to utilize the suicide assault to target popular hotels and government buildings across Somalia.
It is not immediately clear if today’s statement represents a legitimate claim from Mozambique.
AFRICOM has stepped up its targeting of the Islamic State, and continues to pursue its efforts to “degrade” al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia. Unfortunately, the defeat of the two terror groups is not in the cards.
In a new audio address, Shabaab’s Abu ‘Abdurahman Mahad Warsame warns jihadists that they should avoid spilling the blood of innocent Muslims. However, he justifies the assassination of a Muslim cleric and the murder of civilians.
Bill Roggio testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism, and examines the global terrorism landscape.