The US launched an airstrike in Somalia on August 14, the second bombing within a week, signaling that the Biden administration is escalating the US war against al-Shabaab.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced the airstrike on Wednesday and claimed it killed 13 al-Shabaab fighters. The command said the strike was launched against al-Shabaab members that were attacking Somali government forces in a remote location near Teedaan, Somalia.
AFRICOM said its “initial assessment” found that “no civilians were injured or killed,” but the Pentagon is known for severely undercounting civilian casualties in Somalia.
The last US airstrike AFRICOM announced in Somalia took place on August 9, and before that was July 17. The escalation comes after President Biden ordered up to 500 troops to be sent to the East African nation, reversing a Trump-era drawdown.
The Trump administration’s drawdown from Somalia repositioned troops in neighboring Djibouti and Kenya, allowing the drone war to continue. But Biden has launched significantly fewer strikes in Somalia compared to his predecessor.
In 2020, AFRICOM announced 52 airstrikes in Somalia. Under the Biden administration, the command has announced it bombed Somalia nine times, although the CIA could also be conducting strikes in the country, which are shrouded in even more secrecy than AFRICOM operations and don’t get reported.
So, nobody can count or do math, regardless of party… AFRICOM, what a name… Bye-done is cut from the same cloth as the other guys and they do math the same way too… I don’t intend to support any candidates from either party (the same party, the WAR party)… is “AFRICOM” suppose to sound ethnic?…
Me too Donna, I will never again vote for the lesser of two evils. I come to think that Biden is even worse than Trump.
Colonialism by any other name would smell as stank.
Why order 500 troops to Somalia when Americans only drop bombs, no need for troops? There is no reason to believe anything the administration says.
Why are American troops involved in Somalia anyway? What do the Somalis have that the Americans want?
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/08/world/somalia-mission-clinton-s-words-so
I read almost all of it, it is nothing but BS, Clinton speaks of the people, they and no explanation about who is fighting whom, no mention if the nation is in a civil war or an invasion from out side, where do the weapons come from and the numbers of the starving people in Somalia, it goes all the way back to Bush.
Escalation of what war, who is fighting against whom?
US can only bombs the third world countries with no defense….! I dare US bomb Russia or China…!
AFRICOM said its “initial assessment” found that “no civilians were injured or killed,” but the Pentagon is known for severely undercounting civilian casualties in Somalia.
Dave can just use this paragraph over and over again and just change the date and location. In fact, I believe he did use it after last week’s bombing.