US Claims Air Strike Killed Senior Al-Shabab Militia Leader In Somalia

Illustration of the MQ-9 spirit drone is widely used by the US military to carry out airstrikes. (Wikimedia Commons/US Air Force/Lawrence Crespo)

JAKARTA - A US air strike in Somalia killed an Al-Shabab militant leader on Saturday in coordination with the Somali government, US Africa Command said in a statement.

The US said an initial assessment of the results of the attack said an al-Shabab militant leader had been killed and there were no civilian casualties.

"Specific details about the units involved and the assets used will not be released to ensure the safety of operations," US Africa Command said in a statement on its website.

Although the statement did not identify the militants, Somalia's Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said on Twitter an operation on Saturday with international partners killed Abdullahi Nadir.

In late September, US air strikes in Somalia killed 27 al-Shabab members, the US said, part of increased support for the Somali government, following President Joe Biden's decision in May to approve the redeployment of US troops in east Africa.

"Al-Shabab is the largest and most kinetically active al Qaeda network in the world, proving its will and ability to attack US forces and threaten US security interests," US Africa Command said in a statement.

In December 2020, President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Somalia at the end of his administration. A senior official in President Biden's administration described the withdrawal as "sudden and sudden," causing Al-Shabab to grow stronger since then.

In May this year, President Biden approved the Pentagon's request to deploy less than 500 troops to Somalia, after consultation with the Somali government.

The US has carried out several attacks against Al-Shabab since the agreement, but until the most recent airstrike, the operation was explicitly in defense of Somali government forces.

Africa Command said the attack was against Al-Shabab insurgents attacking Somali forces, and the US response was "to defend designated partner forces."

However, Saturday's attack was a specially targeted operation against an al-Shabab leader.

In addition, Africa Command said it would continue to "take action to prevent this malicious terrorist group from planning and carrying out attacks".