In the past week, US forces have killed 17 al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia. This comes three months after President Biden reversed former President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from the East African country.
The U.S. African Command said in a statement Wednesday that al-Shabaab fighters were "aggressively attacking the Somali National Army in a remote area" near Tidan in central Somalia on Sunday. He said 13 people had died.
The attack came four days after US forces launched three airstrikes on him, killing four al-Shabab members who attacked Somali forces on August 9. .
Last week's airstrike was his fourth and his fifth. against al-Shabaab in Somalia so far this year. In 2020, the last year before Trump pulled out, the US launched 63 strikes against extremist groups.
It poses a long-term threat to regional and US interests," AFRICOM said.
No civilians were harmed in the airstrikes that the US military is authorized to conduct "in defense of designated partner forces," according to a statement.
In May,Biden announced that the U.S. Special Operations Forces Forces (USSEA) would be removed from Somalia after Trump withdrew about 700 U.S. troops from Somalia in the final days of his presidency. ordered its return to Somalia.
Following Trump's orders, these troops moved to other countries on the continent and began moving to Somalia for training missions. The army general criticized the plan as a "commuter" in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
“My assessment is that [the strategy] is not effective. Told.
Biden's reversal came after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called for a return to Somalia over "concerns about the security of our military, which took additional risks by traveling in and out of Somalia." , then-Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said in May:
It's best done when you're in the field to build those relationships and keep those conversations going. Al-Shabaab is the militant arm of the Islamic Courts Somali Council, which ruled southern Somalia in late 2006, according to the director of intelligence. The council was defeated in his 2007, but al-Shabaab has continued a violent uprising ever since.
