WASHINGTON: US forces carried out air strikes in Somalia on Saturday (Feb 1) concentrating on a senior Islamic State assault planner and different members of the militant group, killing lots of them, President Donald Trump stated.
“These killers, who we discovered hiding in caves, threatened the US and our Allies,” Trump stated in a put up on Reality Social.
“The strikes destroyed the caves they reside in, and killed many terrorists with out, in any method, 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 assist of the US in our shared battle in opposition to terrorism”.
“Your daring and decisive management, Mr President, in counterterrorism efforts is extremely valued and welcomed in Somalia.”
The data 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 might hear the sound of explosions,” the minister, Mohamud Aidid Dirir, instructed Reuters.
Hegseth stated the strikes degraded Islamic State’s capability to plot and perform assaults that threaten the US, its companions and harmless civilians.
“(It) sends a transparent sign that the US at all times stands prepared to search out and eradicate terrorists who threaten the US and our allies, at the same time as we conduct sturdy border-protection and lots of different operations below President Trump’s management,” he stated in an announcement.
America has periodically carried out air strikes in Somalia for years, below Republican and Democratic administrations.
