American soldiers in World War II uniforms stand guard at a ceremony held at Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, western France. (Loic Venance, AFP)
- The airstrike was carried out against Al-Shabaab near Galkayo, Somalia.
- The strike did not cause civilian injuries.
- TonThis is the first US military attack in Somalia since January 19.
The Pentagon stated that the U.S. military conducted an air strike on Al-Qaida jihadists on Tuesday, the first air strike since President Biden took office.
Pentagon spokesman Cindy King told AFP that the American African Military Command (AFRICOM) coordinated with the Somali government to “carry out an air strike against Al Shabaab near Galkayo, Somalia today.”
King said that the attack took place 700 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu and targeted al-Shabaab Islamists.
She added:
Due to the ongoing fighting between Al-Shabaab and Somali forces, the battle loss assessment is still in progress, but the command’s preliminary assessment is that the attack did not cause civilian casualties.
This airstrike was the first time that the US military had carried out in Somalia since January 19, when the African Command announced that it had killed three Al-Shabaab jihadists in two airstrikes in Jamameh and De Bucinel.
Biden took office the next day. Once he arrived at the White House, he restricted the use of drones against jihadist groups outside the US theater.
This reversed the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump, who had delegated full powers to the U.S. military in countries such as Somalia and Libya.
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In March of this year, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stated that any plans for attacks against jihadist groups outside Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq have now been submitted to the White House before they can be implemented.
According to Airwars, a non-governmental organization that monitors civilian deaths in bombings around the world, drone attacks have multiplied during Trump’s tenure, from 11 in Somalia in 2015 to 64 in 2019 and 54 in 2020. Times.
Just before he left office, Trump ordered the withdrawal of about 700 special forces soldiers deployed in Somalia to train and provide advice to the Somali army.
