A top CIA agent killed in a combat in Somalia has been identified

WASHINGTON, USA - The top CIA agent killed in combat in Somalia has been positively identified, reports The Intercept, with preliminary investigations revealing that he died early this week after sustaining injuries in a terror attack within Mogadishu, a town which has often been targeted by the Al-Shabaab.

He is the first American known to be killed as a result of violence in the capital since the disastrous 1993 Black Hawk Down battle when the US intervened in the civil war within the Horn of Africa nation which erupted after the ouster of Siad Barre.

Michael Goodboe, a 54-year-old former Navy SEAL who worked for the CIA’s paramilitary unit, died after succumbing to injuries from an improvised explosive device, according to the two sources. The two sources requested anonymity because of the sensitivity around the attack and because they were not authorized to disclose Goodboe’s death.

The attack that killed Goodboe, reports indicate, was presumed to have been conducted by al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda affiliated group engaged in a decade-long insurgency, though the details remain unclear. One of the people familiar with the attack said Goodboe was flown to Germany, where the U.S. has a military hospital, and later died of his injuries.

To date, the CIA declined to comment. Goodboe’s family did not respond to requests for comment. The New York Times first reported the death but did not identify the CIA officer who was killed and did not further tell when the attack took place among other finer details.

Know as “Goody” to his colleagues and teammates, Goodboe was formerly a member of the Navy’s elite SEAL Team 6, according to military records obtained by The Intercept and the two sources. Goodboe left the SEALs several years ago and joined the CIA’s paramilitary unit as a contractor, according to one of the sources who knew him.

His death comes as President Donald Trump has announced his intention to remove all of the roughly 700 U.S. military personnel from Somalia before leaving office in January. The U.S. has conducted covert and clandestine operations in Somalia for nearly two decades, and Trump’s expected order would not affect the CIA’s presence in the country.

The attack in Mogadishu occurred as al-Shabab has increased attacks against Somali counterterrorism forces who were trained by the U.S., including an attack this week that killed as many as six Somalis, according to local press reports. The group was formed after the 9/11 attacks with the intention of going after U.S. interests in East Africa.

U.S. Africa Command reported an increase in car bomb attacks by al-Shabab during the quarter ending on September 30, including in Mogadishu. In July, al-Shabab attempted to assassinate the chief of Somalia’s military using a car bomb in Mogadishu. In August, a car bomb attack by al-Shabab at Lido Beach in Mogadishu resulted in 25 casualties.

On September 7, al-Shabab used a car bomb to attack the U.S and Somali troops operating in the south of the country, killing three Somali personnel and wounding one U.S. military service member.

The identity of the officer was revealed on the same day the US acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller visited American troops in Somalia on Friday. Miller had been in the camp calling for the facilitation of some factions within Al-Shabaab to help disintegrate the militants from within, a strategy that was opposed by his predecessor, Mark Esper.

GAROWE ONLINE