Somalia: UAV airstrikes against al-Shabaab

A United States airstrike targeting al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab in Somalia killed four people and destroyed a car bomb near Mogadishu on Wednesday, December 27, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants in the early evening hours of Dec. 27, 2017, approximately 25 kilometers west of the capital [Mogadishu], killing four (4) terrorists and destroying one vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, preventing it from being used against the people in Mogadishu,” Africom said in a Thursday statement.

On December 24, an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab in southern Somalia killed 13 people. On December 15, an airstrike 30 miles northwest of Kismayo killed eight people. Three days earlier, on December 12, a U.S. airstrike targeted an al-Shabaab car bomb near Mubarak, 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Mogadishu. On November 27, Africom targeted Abnaa ul-Calipha in northeastern Somalia. A week earlier, the command said an airstrike killed more than 100 al-Shabaab militants 125 miles northwest of Mogadishu. On November 15, Africom said a drone strike about 60 miles north Mogadishu killed “several” al-Shabaab militants. Four days earlier, Africom said it struck al-Shabaab in the Bay region, about 100 miles west of Mogadishu.

The strike is the latest in an increasing number of U.S. airstrikes against al-Shabaab and Abnaa ul-Calipha, Islamic State’s affiliate in Somalia.

UAV Airstrike in Libya

An airstrike carried out on Tuesday 26th in Libya killed "several" fighters from the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, according to a Thursday 28th statement from U.S. Africa Command. It followed a similar UAV attack last week that Trump personally approved, the first in Libya since the one President Barack Obama authorized in January the day before he stepped down from office.

As for whether the command could carry out strikes wherever it chooses in Africa, an official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss current operations says it limits its actions to pre-established agreements with partner countries. In this latest instance, AFRICOM coordinated with the de facto coalition governing Libya known as the Government of National Accord. It has similar arrangements with other partners in Africa, including with Somalia to hunt Islamic State group fighters and with others to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.

"These strikes were conducted under the Presidential Policy Guidance," Defense Department spokeswoman Army Maj. Audricia Harris says, referring to a 2014 document the Obama White House released explaining the policies that would govern covert war. "That allows for the use of all available tools of national power to protect the American people from threats posed by groups such as ISIS, al-Qaida and their associated forces."