...KABOOM!...
against al-Shabaab
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
Death Eaters, targeting the group's headquarters in the Middle Juba region, just a few hours after the murderous Moslems released an undated video of the commander addressing the media over current affairs.
In a statement, the US Africa Command said the airstrike was conducted in Jilib town which. The federal government of Somalia troops also participated in the raid, the command confirmed.
"The command's initial assessment is that no civilians were maimed or killed," the statement said while confirming the Saturday airstrike which comes just before the Somali National Army [SNA] start operations against the group in Jubaland and Southwest.
When such airstrikes take place, the US military usually targets senior al-Shabaab commanders or acts in response to assistance calls from the Somali army or those serving in African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS]. However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
the US is yet to indicate the motives of the airstrike.
Jilib, 385 kilometers [239 miles] southwest of Mogadishu, is an al-Shabaab stronghold. The airstrike also coincides with Somalia National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] director Mahad Salad's trip to the US where he is meeting security bigshots.
The talks focused on security and counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries, the source added. Also, the airstrike came a few hours before the al-Shabaab released a video purportedly of the chief commander Ahmed Diriye alias Ahmed Umar and Abu Ubaidah addressing the media.
In the video, several other top leaders of the group are appearing in a "delegates' conference" with traditional elders and scholars conspicuously present. The group's media reported that the meeting, titled "Jihad in East Africa," took place from May 8 to 15. The group has not disclosed where the meeting took place, VOA reports.
In the video, Diriye, whose face is blurred, comments on the military offensive by the Somali government and local Ma'awisley fighters that drove al-Shabaab from vast territories in Hirshabelle and Galmudug
...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth...
states. Diriye claimed the offensive, which started last August and continued until earlier this year, has "failed."
However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
the government of Somalia maintains that the operation was a huge success with the military managing to kill over 3,000 al-Shabaab Death Eaters.
The second phase of operations is set to kick off soon, but the US is also keen to capture Diriye, who has a $10 million bounty on his head. He replaced Ahmed Godane who was killed in a US airstrike in 2014.
BREAKING: U.S. militar says an al Shabab leader was wounded in a drone strike carried out on Saturday in Jilib town of Middle Jubba region, some 385km southwest of Mogadishu. pic.twitter.com/BPGVNhcBZK
— Shabelle Media Network (@ShabelleMedia) May 23, 2023