US Africa Command said in a press release on Wednesday that its forces launched an airstrike in Somalia in coordination with the US-backed government on May 17.
AFRICOM said the strike targeted al-Shabaab and was launched about 125 miles north of Mogadishu but offered no other details. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said.
On Tuesday, the White House released a video of an airstrike in Somalia that it said was launched on Monday. The White House claimed it killed 10 “Jihadis” and that it brought the total number of “blood thirsty terrorists” killed by the Trump administration to over 100.
According to Somali media, the strike targeted the ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region. So far, AFRICOM has not put out a press release on the strike claimed by the White House.
AFRICOM used to offer estimates on the number of militants killed and whether or not civilians were harmed, but it stopped releasing that information last month. The command told Antiwar.com in an email last week that it wouldn’t be sharing any information about casualties in its airstrikes in Somalia as the Trump administration “settles in,” even though the first 100 days have already passed.
“As the new administration settles in, we’re refraining from reporting estimated battle damage assessments and providing initial assessments on civilian harm probability as a matter of course,” said AFRICOM spokesman Lt. Col. Doug Halleaux.
The two new airstrikes bring the total number of US bombings in Somalia under the new Trump administration to 26.
On Sunday, Garowe Online reported that a drone strike in central Somalia mistakenly hit a pro-government militia, killing 12 of its members. It’s unclear if the drone strike was launched by the US, and AFRICOM has not responded to an inquiry from Antiwar.com about the attack.
The New York Times reported on April 10 that State Department officials recently suggested closing down the US embassy in Mogadishu and evacuating most US personnel due to the threat from the al-Shabaab offensive. But other officials, including Sebastian Gorka, the top counterterrorism official on the National Security Council, called for the US to escalate in Somalia and double down on the failed policy of backing the Mogadishu-based government.
