U.S. strikes al Shabaab training camp in Somalia, more than 150 killed

[F-22Raptor]

The United States has carried out an air strike in Somalia, killing more than 150 fighters with the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab, following U.S. intelligence on preparations for a large-scale militant attack, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The weekend strike using both manned and unmanned drone aircraft targeted al Shabaab's "Raso" training camp, a facility about 120 miles north of the capital Mogadishu, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. military said it had been monitoring the camp for several weeks before the strike and had gathered intelligence, including about an imminent threat posed by the trainees.

"We know they were going to be departing the camp and that they posed an imminent threat to U.S. and to Amisom, African Union mission in Somalia forces, that are in Somalia," said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

Davis declined to disclose any specific information the United States might have about the group's intended target.

The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent antagonist in Somalia, launching frequent attacks in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed government.

The group, whose name means "The Youth," seeks to impose its strict version of sharia law in Somalia, where it frequently unleashes attacks targeting security and government targets, as well as hotels and restaurants in the capital.

Al Shabaab was also behind deadly attacks in Kenya and Uganda, which both contribute troops to an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.

Davis said as many as 200 fighters were believed to be training at the Raso camp at the time of the strike and expressed confidence there were no civilian casualties.

"Their removal will degrade al Shabaab's ability to meet the group's objectives in Somalia, which include recruiting new members, establishing bases and planning attacks on U.S. and Amisom forces there," Davis said.

No U.S. forces on the ground participated in the strike.

"It was an air operation," Davis said.

U.S. strikes al Shabaab training camp in Somalia, more than 150 killed| Reuters

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

The United States has carried out an air strike in Somalia, killing more than 150 fighters with the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab,

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/world/africa/us-airstrikes-somalia.html

American warplanes on Saturday struck a training camp in Somalia belonging to the Islamist militant group the Shabab, the Pentagon said, killing about 150 fighters who United States officials said were preparing an attack against American troops and their regional allies in East Africa.

The strikes at a training facility called Camp Raso, about 120 miles north of Mogadishu, came as the Shabab fighters were nearing the end of “training for a large-scale attack” on forces belonging to the African Union in Somalia, officials said.

They were bombed during what United States officials said they believed was a graduation ceremony, and the warplanes dropped a number of precision-guided bombs and missiles on them. “They were standing outdoors in formation,” one official said.

The United States has a number of Special Operations forces in Somalia, and Defense Department officials said they were also believed to have been targets of the planned attacks.

The Shabab fighters killed in the strikes were “nearing the completion of the end of their training,” said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. He said the strikes “will degrade Al Shabab’s ability” to attack its neighbors and the West.

The latest strikes come as East Africa analysts say that the Shabab, the group responsible for the 2013 attack on the Westgate mall in Kenya, is making a comeback after American strikes killed the group’s top leadership in 2014. Last month, the Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack on a popular hotel and a public garden in Mogadishu that killed 10 people and injured more than 25 others.

In the past two months, Shabab militants have killed more than 150 people, including Kenyan soldiers stationed at a remote desert outpost and beachcombers in Mogadishu. In addition, the group has claimed responsibility for a bomb placed aboard a Somali jetliner that tore a hole through the fuselage.

Pentagon officials would not say how they knew that the Shabab fighters killed on Saturday were training for an attack on United States and African Union forces, but the militant group is believed to be under heavy American surveillance.

Some experts say that the Shabab, an Al Qaeda affiliate, is in a competition with the Islamic State to show that it has not been eclipsed.

 

[Nattmara]

Well done.

 

[Nattmara]