U.S. service member dies in Somalia fight
A MOGADISHU, SOMALIA — U.S. service member has been killed in Somalia during an operation against the extremist group al-Shabab the first — U.S. combat death there in more than two decades — as the United States steps up its fight against the al-Qaida-linked organization in the largely ungoverned country.
The United States pulled out of Somalia after the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” debacle in which two Army helicopters were shot down in the capital, Mogadishu, and bodies of American soldiers were dragged through the streets.
“We do not believe there has been a case where a U.S. service member has been killed in combat action in Somalia since the incident there in 1993,” U.S. Africa Command spokesman Patrick Barnes said Friday.
In a statement, the U.S. Africa Command said the service member was killed Thursday during the operation about 40 miles west of Mogadishu. Two other service members were wounded, the Pentagon said. Their names were not provided pending notification of next of kin.
A Somali intelligence offi- cial said U.S. forces killed at least six people during the raid on a building housing al-Shabab’s Andalus radio station at a farm near Dare Salaam village. The official said the dead included al-Shabab journalists.
The deputy governor of Lower Shabelle region, Omar Mohamud Elmi, said another goal of the raid was to “surgically target” senior al-Shabab members hiding in the area. He acknowledged “casualties on our side” but said the extremist group lost far more people. He did not give details.
The U.S. special operations troops came under fire after U.S. aircraft delivered Somali forces to the target area, a Pentagon spokes- man, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, told reporters. He said the U.S. troops were “a distance back” from the compound which had been associated with attacks on nearby facil- ities used by the U.S. and Somali partners.
Al-Shabab, via its Shahada News Agency, claimed it had thwarted “an air landing operation by U.S. special forces,” with a number of them killed or wounded, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.
Both the United States and Somalia in recent weeks have announced new efforts against al-Shabab. President Donald Trump has approved expanded military operations against the group, including more aggressive airstrikes and considering parts of southern Somalia areas of active hostilities.
Somalia’s new Somali-American president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, last month declared a new offensive against al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia but has claimed responsibility for major attacks elsewhere in East Africa.
Also last month, the U.S. military announced it was sending dozens of regular troops to Somalia in the largest such deployment to the country in roughly two decades. The U.S. Africa Command said the deployment was for logistics training of Somalia’s army.