U.S. steps up attacks on militants in Somalia, Libya
WASHINGTON — Reflecting stepped-up targeting of extremists in Africa, the U.S. military said air strikes killed more than 100 militants in Somalia on Tuesday and hit Islamic State fighters in Libya days earlier.
U.S. Africa Command, which manages U.S. military operations on the continent, said the air strike in Somalia targeted an al-Shabab camp about 125 miles northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, killing more than 100. That is the largest number of reported deaths from a single U.S. air strike in Somalia since the Trump administration approved expanded military operations against al-Shabab, which is allied withal Qaida.
Al-Shabab is blamed for last month’s truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more than 350 people.
A Somali intelligence official said U.S. drone aircraft fired at least eight missiles at al-Shabab bases and training camps in Bur-Eylada, a village situated between the towns of Dinsor and Burhakaba in the Bay region. The official, who was not authorized to speak to reporters on the record, said senior al-Shabab commanders were among the dead.
The deadly attack in Mogadishu spurred more aggressive strikes by the U.S., which is working closely with Somali and other African forces on the ground, security analysts said. Tricia Bacon, a Somalia specialist at American University in Washington and a former State Department counterterrorism analyst, told the New York Times that the increase in strikes was probably the result of “better and more actionable intelligence,” meaning fresh tips about insurgents that commandos can act on immediately.
The United States this month also began targeting a small but growing Islamic State presence in northern Somalia.
Separately, Africa Command said it conducted two air strikes near Fuqaha in central Libya against Islamic State group militants — one Nov. 17 and another two days later. It made no mention of casualties and did not identify the specific targets. It said the strikes were done in coordination with Libya’s interim government, known as the Government of National Accord.
The Trump administration has committed to preventing the Islamic State from regrouping after losing its grip on significant territory in Iraq and Syria.
Also Tuesday, the Pentagon said it has recovered additional remains of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who was among four U.S. soldiers killed in the African nation of Niger in October.
Bodies of three of the soldiers were found the same day they were ambushed; Johnson’s body was found two days later. The Pentagon said Tuesday that a military investigation team found additional remains of Johnson on Nov. 12 at the site where his body had been recovered a month earlier.
The Armed Forces Medical Examiner positively identified the additional remains as those of Johnson, and family members were notified.
The Pentagon did not provide details about the additional remains or indicate how the discovery might advance the overall investigation, which is expected to be finished in January.