US African Command (AFRICOM) has reported that airstrikes against
targets in Somalia have killed at least 15 “fighters” from al-Shabaab. Both strikes were in the Lower Shabelle region, with 11 killed Wednesday and 4 killed Thursday.
These are the latest in an ever-growing number of strikes inside
Somalia. The US strikes have increased substantially in the past few
years, and this year’s bombings have been even more frequent than the
last year.
Following the strikes, AFRICOM head Gen. Thomas Waldhauser warned the Senate that despite the escalations, airstrikes were “not enough” to defeat al-Shabaab, and that Somalia’s local forces need to get more deeply involved in the conflict.
Local forces, of course, have been fighting al-Shabaab since the group’s
foundation. This has long failed, with al-Shabaab remaining influential
across much of Somalia, and ever-growing international intervention
increasing the number of deaths, but having little else to show for
their involvement.
US Airstrikes Kill 15 in Somalia; General Warns Airstrikes ‘Not Enough’
AFRICOM claims al-Shabaab was trying to 'illegally tax' civilians
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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