(Washington) The United States announced on Wednesday that it had carried out an airstrike in Somalia against the Islamic State (IS) group which had just attacked the Somali army, killing seven jihadists.
Posted on 22 July 2020 at 11 h 21
France Media Agency
At the time of the strike not far from the port of Bossasso, on the Gulf of Aden, American soldiers “were in the area to advise and assist the Somali forces and partners”, specified the American military command for Africa (Africom) in a statement.
The strike killed seven jihadists, Africom said, adding that to its knowledge no civilians were killed or injured.
ISIS, a very small group in Somalia compared to the Shabab affiliated with Al-Qaeda, is active in the Puntland region, in northern Somalia, where its fighters have established training camps and storage of weapons, mostly from neighboring Yemen.
The Shebab constitute by far the main radical Islamist group in this country in the Horn of Africa. They proclaimed their allegiance to Al-Qaeda, an organization into which they were officially integrated in 2012. But a small number of them – around 200 – later defected in favor of ISIS.
Africom’s last operation against ISIS dates back to October 2019.
