ABUJA: The US has picked up the pace of its airstrikes against Al-Shabab and Daesh in Somalia this year, according to US Africa Command data.
The US has long been involved in the Horn of Africa country and has been targeting Al-Shabab and Daesh militants since the mid-2000s after the former first emerged.
Since Jan. 1, the US has conducted 23 strikes in Somalia, Africom spokeswoman Major Mahalia Frost said.
The “uptick” since the New Year, Frost said, is related to a broader US push against Daesh-linked militants on the continent, which included Christmas Day strikes in Nigeria.
In the last year, “we’ve gotten a lot more aggressive and (are) working with partners to target, kinetically, the threats, mainly Daesh,” Africom Lt. Gen. John Brennan said last week on the sidelines of a US-Nigeria security meeting in the Nigerian capital.
Following the Nigeria strikes on what Washington and Abuja said were targets linked to Daesh in Sahel province, the Pentagon has pledged increased intelligence sharing with their Nigerian counterparts.
“From Somalia to Nigeria, the problem set is connected.
So we’re trying to take it apart and then provide partners with the information they need,” Brennan said.
“It’s been about more enabling partners and then providing them equipment and capabilities with less restrictions so that they can be more successful.”
Frost added that 23 bombardments in Somalia this year “also includes strikes against Al-Shabab.”
President Donald Trump sharply escalated US strikes in Somalia during his first term, ordering 219 strikes and ground operations over four years — compared to 48 by Barack Obama in eight years.
