US Africa Command has announced that its forces launched an airstrike in Somalia on June 16 as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace.
AFRICOM offered no details about the strike, only saying that it was launched near Bullo Xajji, a town in southern Somalia, and that it targeted al-Shabaab. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.
Al-Shabaab has been on the offensive in southern and central Somalia against the US-backed Federal Government, which is based in Mogadishu but controls little territory in the country. Al-Shabaab has made significant gains in recent months, putting pressure on the fracturing government.
There have been growing calls for the government to engage diplomatically with al-Shabaab. Last month, Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights and counter-terrorism, visited Somalia and stated that he believed the government couldn’t defeat al-Shabaab.
But the US has doubled down on its policy of propping up a weak federal government and supporting it with airstrikes. The US has also been launching a significant number of airstrikes against an ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, where the US is backing local forces who are fighting on the ground.
Based on the count from AFRICOM, the June 16 strike marks the 40th time the US bombed Somalia this year. New America, which tracks the US air war, counted the attack as the 41st US strike this year, as it includes airstrikes that have been reported but not confirmed by AFRICOM.
The Trump administration is well on its way to breaking the record for the number of US airstrikes in Somalia in a single year, which Trump set at 63 in 2019.
