US strikes Islamic State in Somalia for first time
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4 2017
The chairman of the town of Qandala in the
semiautonomous region of Puntland said six missiles hit an Islamic State base
in Buqa village. PHOTO | GOOGLE MAPS
In
Summary
·
The
first strike occurred around midnight Somalia time with the second strike
coming at about 11am.
·
AFRICOM
spokesman Lieutenant Commander Anthony Falvo said no civilians were in the
vicinity of the strikes.
·
IS
claimed its first suicide attack in Somalia in May, killing at least five
people as it stepped up activities in a region dominated by the Shabaab.
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By AFP
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WASHINGTON
The US conducted a pair of drone strikes against
Islamic State fighters in Somalia on Friday, the first time America has hit the
jihadists in the Horn of Africa nation, officials said.
The strikes occurred in northeastern Somalia and
killed "several terrorists," the US military's Africa Command said in
a statement.
According to Voice of America, which cited the
chairman of the town of Qandala in the semiautonomous region of Puntland, six
missiles hit an IS base in Buqa village, 60 kilometers away.
"Local residents and pastoralists were shocked
and fled from the area," Jama Mohamed Qurshe told VOA.
AIR STRIKES
AFRICOM spokesman Lieutenant Commander Anthony
Falvo said no civilians were in the vicinity of the strikes.
"They struck their intended targets," he
said, noting these were the first anti-IS air strikes in Somalia.
The first strike occurred around midnight Somalia
time with the second strike coming at about 11am.
In recent months, the US has repeatedly hit Somali
jihadists from the Shabaab rebel group that is aligned with Al-Qaeda, but
Friday's development marks a significant step in the ever-evolving war against
IS.
"US forces will continue to use all authorized
and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist
threats," AFRICOM said.
IS claimed its first suicide attack in Somalia in
May, killing at least five people as it stepped up activities in a region
dominated by the Shabaab.
The militants are led by former Shabaab cleric
Abdiqadir Mumin, who switched allegiance from Al-Qaeda to IS in October 2015
and was named a "global terrorist" by the US State Department in
August.
Mumin was born in Puntland and lived in Sweden
before moving to the UK in the 2000s, where he was granted British citizenship.
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