The US military carried out an airstrike in Somalia on Friday (July 23) against Shabaab jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda, the second in four days after a six-month hiatus, AFP has learned from the Pentagon.
The military command for Africa (Africom) "
today carried out an air strike in the vicinity of Qeycad
", in the province of Galmudug, 500 km northeast of Mogadishu, a door told AFP. - Pentagon speech, Cindi King.
Read also: Is Somalia on the brink of civil war?
There was no US military on the ground, alongside the Somali army, said the spokeswoman, adding that it was a drone strike. “
For operational security reasons, we are unable to provide any further information at this stage,
” she added. It was the second airstrike carried out by the US army in Somalia under the presidency of Joe Biden: on Tuesday Africom struck Shabab Islamists around Galkayo, 700 km northeast of Mogadishu.
As soon as he arrived at the White House, Joe Biden had limited the use of drones against jihadist groups outside theaters of war where the United States is officially engaged, reversing a policy of his predecessor Donald Trump, who had given the card white to the military in countries like Somalia and Libya.
"
The threat
" of the shebabs
The Pentagon spokeswoman stressed that the US military was "
authorized to carry out strikes in support of partner US commands in accordance with the 2001 law
" authorizing the use of force against terrorist groups. The House of Representatives last month approved a text to repeal a law enacted in 2002 to allow the United States to go to war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, but elected officials have indicated that they are not considering to go back on the 2001 law.
Asked this week about the resumption of strikes in Somalia, Defense Ministry spokesman John Kirby stressed that Africom commander General Stephen Townsend had full authority to respond to a request from the Somali government . These strikes "
underline the threat that the Shebabs continue to represent in Somalia and the Horn of Africa,
" Kirby said. "
This threat remains significant and we will remain vigilant about it
."
Former President Donald Trump had, from the start of his mandate in 2016, relaxed the control that Barack Obama exercised over armed operations against jihadist groups, saying "
to trust (his) generals
". The drone strikes had then multiplied, from 11 bombings in Somalia in 2015 to 64 in 2019 and 54 in 2020, according to the specialized organization Airwars. Just before his departure from power, Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of some 700 special forces soldiers who were deployed in Somalia to train and advise the Somali army.
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