US Africa Command (AFRICOM) explained the attacks in a press release today:
At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense airstrike with two engagements against the al Shabaab terrorist group on Jan. 21.
The collective self-defense strike occurred in a remote area of Somalia, approximately 35 kilometers northeast of Kismayo.
The initial assessment is that the U.S. airstrike killed three al Shabaab terrorists and that no civilians were injured or killed.
U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this airstrike and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operational security.
Al Shabaab is the largest and most active al-Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces and threaten U.S. security interests. U.S. Africa Command, alongside its partners, continues to take action to prevent this malicious terrorist group from planning and conducting attacks on civilians.
Somalia remains key to the security environment in East Africa. U.S. Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to give them the tools that they need to degrade al Shabaab.
U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, with partners, counters malign actors and transnational threats, responds to crises, and strengthens security forces in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity.
Antiwar.com provides some extra context for the attacks and why the U.S. is fighting over there:
US airstrikes in Somalia escalated in 2022 after President Biden ordered the deployment of up to 500 troops to the country, and the US-backed government launched an offensive against al-Shabaab.
When the House debated a resolution to withdraw from Somalia last year, lawmakers said there were 900 troops in the country. US troops on the ground in Somalia provide training for a special fighting force known as the Danab Brigade.
US operations in Somalia under Biden have not gotten as intense as they were during the Trump administration when the US bombed the country at a record pace.
The US military hypes the threat of al-Shabaab due to its size and al-Qaeda affiliation, but it’s widely believed the group does not have ambitions outside of Somalia.
Al-Shabaab was born out of a US-backed Ethiopian invasion in 2006 that toppled the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of Muslim groups who briefly held power in Mogadishu after ousting CIA-backed warlords.
Al-Shabaab was the radical offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union. The group’s first recorded attack was in 2007, and it wasn’t until 2012 that al-Shabaab pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda after years of fighting the US and its proxies.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
I mention this because it is again worth noting that not only are tensions growing in the Middle East, the U.S. again continues to demonstrate its infamous and ignominious murder streak. The U.S. operates under a wartime economy and therefore the war machine must keep going. Most Americans are clueless to all these endless wars. America is the world’s terrorist.
Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.
Psalm 68:30
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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cool rabbit holes to look into, thanks
What business do we have in Somalia? We are the most buttinski country of any, in the way of going to war in countries we have nothing to do with. Isn’t it true that if we are at war, there will be ***NO ELECTION***? Maybe that is why they are butting in to any war they can, so our illustrious White House can say “we are in war, so there will be no election until the war is over” which will not happen cause we will continue to butt in everywhere we can.
The last time this country officially declared a state of war was during World War II. Those powers were never rescinded after the Axis’ were defeated and kept in place, using what would become the Cold War as the proxy. It has since “legally” allowed for all this criminality and murder. All of these elections are just for show to maintain the allusion that we have a republic or some kind of democracy. That being said, the way things are shaping up, it may perhaps be possible that some of this is being orchestrated to justify keeping Biden in power for longer. I don’t know though. There are still a lot of moving pieces.