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- The US military conducted an airstrike against Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab jihadists on Tuesday in Somalia
- It is the first since President Joe Biden took office. The US military command for Africa (Africom), in coordination with the Somali government conducted one airstrike in the vicinity of Galkayo, Somalia against al-Shabaab
- Biden after assuming office limited the use of drones against jihadist groups outside US theaters of war
The US military conducted an airstrike against Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab jihadists on Tuesday in Somalia . It is the first since President Joe Biden took office. The US military command for Africa (Africom), in coordination with the Somali government conducted one airstrike in the vicinity of Galkayo, Somalia against al-Shabaab. The strike, 700 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu, targeted Shabaab Islamists.
A battle-damage assessment is still pending due to the ongoing engagement between al-Shabaab and Somali forces. However, the command’s initial assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this strike. The strike is the first conducted by the US military in Somalia since January 19. Biden after assuming office limited the use of drones against jihadist groups outside US theaters of war.
That was a departure from the policy of his predecessor Donald Trump. The latter had given the US military carte blanche in countries such as Somalia and Libya in March. With Biden assuming office, any planned strikes against jihadist groups outside Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq were submitted to the White House before being carried out.
Drone strikes were at the peak at Trump’s term. It went up from 11 in Somalia in 2015, to 64 in 2019 and 54 in 2020, according to the non-governmental sources. Trump before demitting the office ordered the withdrawal of some 700 Special Forces soldiers who were deployed in Somalia to train and advise the Somali army.
