US record drone strikes leave 60 Al-Shabaab militants dead in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least 60 Al-Shabaab militants have been killed in persistent US drone strikes in southern Somalia, data tabulated from AFRICOM press releases show, with the number now being the highest within the same duration in previous years.

To date, the US Africa Command has conducted 39 airstrikes since January, mostly targeting the militants' hideouts in central and southern regions, where they control large swathes, AFRICOM said.

Last year, the command only conducted 63 airstrikes. But the increasing raids in 2017 is a manifestation perhaps of US' sudden change of policy towards Somalia, given that previous regions cautiously handled the militants.

Somalia now holds the record for the highest number of airstrikes, surpassing Syria and Iraq, where the US military has for years launched numerous operations against the defiant ISIS militants, who are on verge of collapsing.

But the unprecedented focus on the Al-Shabaab could change Somalia's fortunes, which have been dwindling in recent years due to Al-Qaida linked group's menace. The group has suffered numerous defections and casualties from ground combats as well.

“Strikes are a way to remove imminent threats. Beyond that, it's really to enable a government to return to an area they haven't controlled,” said Judd Devermont, the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Africa program director and a former national intelligence officer for Africa.

“It seems like the pace of the strikes is disproportionate to the ability of the Somali government to backfill,” he told the Washington Examiner. “There isn't a lot of visibility on every attack and why that strike occurred. But that's the key question: What is the strategic benefit of those strikes?”

Although the militants have been significantly degraded, it can still conduct small to large scale sporadic attacks, mainly targeting security forces and civilians. Mogadishu has borne the brunt of these sophisticated raids.

On Jan. 5, the militants raided a US Naval Base in Lamu, Kenya, killing three Americans on spot, DoD confirmed. But since then, multiple operations by the US Africa Command and allied partners have left dozens of the Al-Shabaab militants dead.

For instance, Bashir Qorgab, the mastermind of the Manda Airfield attack, died in Saakow town in February following a drone strike. Yusuf Jiis, another high profile militant, was killed in April at Bush Madina, AFRICOM said.

Due to their sophisticated operations, Al-Shabaab has been ranked as the "most dangerous" extremist group in East Africa, a move that informs the spiking airstrikes in Somalia, the home to the militants.

“Al Shabab is the most capable of the terrorist organizations on the African continent right now,” a senior defense official told the Washington Examiner in a phone interview from AFRICOM headquarters at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany.

“We assess without the constant pressure that we're putting on the network, that the continued development of their external operations capability would be the biggest threat to the United States homeland,” he said. “They continue to talk about wanting to kill Americans wherever they are."

But despite the significant elimination of the militants, civil rights groups have been accusing US Africa Command of targeting innocent civilians. According to Amnesty International, over 21 civilians have succumbed to such raids in as many years.

A fortnight ago, however, Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander AFRICOM, promised to unveil casualty report. His team dismissed claims that a civilian was killed on the outskirts of Jilib town in April. 10, arguing that "the victim was a militant who displayed bodies of SNA troops" before his death.

U.S. Africa Command is America’s youngest global combatant command, stood up in 2007, with a responsibility to assure U.S. interests across the continent. Today, its 5,200 Defense Department personnel are spread across 54 countries, including 650 to 800 in Somalia at any given time.

Its operating budget, now under review by the secretary of defense, is $453 million, not counting the costs of operations conducted by component commands. The command also supports AMISOM, besides training of Somalia's Danab forces.

In an interview with the State Department’s Africa Bureau, the Washington Examiner inquired about the progress of efforts to stabilize Somalia, which is often touted as a success story.

AFRICOM, a top official said, has been coordinating development activities in Somalia given that airstrikes "are not actual solutions" to the stability of the Horn of Africa nation, which has been battling against violent extremism since 2008.

“You have to look at it from the standpoint of where the situation stood in 2007, when the African Union Mission in Somalia originally deployed,” a State Department official told the Washington Examiner.

“AMISOM was in command of roughly 16 city blocks within Mogadishu,” he said. “Today, Shabab has been driven out of pretty much all major population centers. That's not to discount the fact that Shabab remains a very potent threat.”

Several towns have been also liberated from the militants. Janaale town in Lower Shebelle is the latest to be captured from Al-Shabaab, in a battle that leftover 140 militants dead, both from ground combats and airstrikes.

There are about 7,000 active Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia according to AFRICOM. The 60 deaths from airstrikes are the highest record within just four months, with the command estimating a total of about 250 casualties by the end of 2020.

GAROWE ONLINE