WASHINGTON: US forces carried out air strikes in Somalia on Saturday (Feb 1) focusing on a senior Islamic State assault planner and different members of the militant group, killing a lot of them, President Donald Trump stated.
“These killers, who we discovered hiding in caves, threatened the USA and our Allies,” Trump stated in a submit on Fact Social.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they reside in, and killed many terrorists with out, in any means, harming civilians.”
Saturday’s strikes had been carried out within the Golis Mountains and an preliminary evaluation indicated many militants had been killed, Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth stated. No civilians had been harmed, he stated.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm these particulars.
The Somali president’s workplace stated President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was knowledgeable of the air strike, and he wrote on X that he prolonged his deepest gratitude for “the unwavering help of the USA in our shared battle towards terrorism”.
“Your daring and decisive management, Mr President, in counterterrorism efforts is very valued and welcomed in Somalia.”
The knowledge minister for Puntland state in northern Somalia stated the US assault struck within the Cal Miskaad Mountains, a part of the Golis vary, and focused Islamic State bases.
“The variety of casualties remains to be unknown because it was darkish. However our forces on the frontline may hear the sound of explosions,” the minister, Mohamud Aidid Dirir, advised Reuters.
Hegseth stated the strikes degraded Islamic State’s means to plot and perform assaults that threaten the USA, its companions and harmless civilians.
“(It) sends a transparent sign that the USA all the time stands prepared to search out and remove terrorists who threaten the USA and our allies, at the same time as we conduct strong border-protection and lots of different operations underneath President Trump’s management,” he stated in an announcement.
The US has periodically carried out air strikes in Somalia for years, underneath Republican and Democratic administrations.
