The US Africa Command announced the first airstrike in Somalia against the al-Qaeda affiliated al Shabaab after a hiatus. The US has not conducted airstrikes since mid-May making this recent airstrike the forty-first airstrike this year.
The precision strike targeted an al Shabaab checkpoint in the vicinity if Hantiwadaag that was used by the militants to collect Zakat from residents in Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle. The operation left one member of the terror organization dead and the checkpoint destroyed. Typically, such checkpoints erected by al Shabaab restrict the movement of civilians as well as extort them and aid workers seeking access to areas that have been most affected by the standoff between the terror group and troops.
The resumed airstrikes will give the ground Somali and allied troops the much-need aerial support to ensure that areas are recaptured from the control of al Shabaab ahead of the much-anticipated elections and a scheduled withdrawal of the AMISOM troops.
