The US launched an airstrike in Somalia’s Puntland region against the small ISIS affiliate that’s based there, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release over the weekend.
AFRICOM claimed its “initial assessment” found the strike killed one ISIS fighter and that no civilians were harmed, but the Pentagon is known for hiding civilian casualties in Somalia, and there’s very little media coverage of its operations in the country.
The attack marked the second known US airstrike in Somalia this month. The last one occurred on April 1 and also targeted ISIS in Puntland. In that strike, AFRICOM claimed “multiple enemy combatants were killed.”
In both cases, AFRICOM said the strike was launched in coordination with the US-backed Mogadishu-based federal government, but Puntland is not under the federal government’s control.
Last year, Puntland, which has acted as a semi-autonomous state, announced it was withdrawing from the federal system. Local Puntland forces have been fighting against ISIS forces on the ground and have been receiving air support from the US.
The Trump administration has also launched strikes against al-Shabaab, which has been engaged in an offensive against federal government forces in the south. The New York Times recently reported that the Trump administration is divided on how to handle the al-Shabaab offensive, with some officials urging the US to escalate and ramp up its airstrikes.
State Department officials have suggested evacuating the US embassy in Mogadishu over fears that the city could fall to al-Shabaab. The idea would be to pull diplomatic personnel early to avoid an Afghanistan-style withdrawal.
Sorry USA – you simply cannot own the whole world and you are certainly not going to be loved by all the people across planet earth you are trying to kill.
I also noticed fewer comments. Are people being afraid for ICE to round them up? They say they have everyone's vitals.
I think most people have figured out that they’re at ever-increasing risk of being rounded up by some government agency. How bad it will get and how soon it will reach its apogee are the questions. The follow-up question is whether it will be enough to spark a revolution this time around.
And me with tattoos. I'm doomed.
Police on the scene, you know what I mean /
They passed me up, confronted all the dope fiends /
If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it /
Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it /
ICE, ICE baby (too cold, too cold)
Rare earth elements and columbite-tantalite (coltan) have also been noted, with some exploration licenses issued recently.
For example, a 2024 report claimed Sanaag’s minerals could be worth over $900 billion, but this lacks independent confirmation