The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has declared at least 39 airstrikes conducted in Somalia against the Al Qaeda affiliated Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahedeen (HSM) in the first four months of 2020. This shows a steep upsurge in the number of strikes as compared to previous years.
Statistically, the number of airstrikes against al Shabaab between January and April of 2020 is more than those declared during the entire eight years of President Obama’s tenure. Since the beginning of the year, AFRICOM has announced 39 airstrikes in Somalia. The command announced a total of 36 such attacks from 2009 to 2017, under Obama, peaking in 2016 with 19 declared airstrikes. Last year, under President Donald Trump, the U.S. conducted 63 air attacks in Somalia, the most ever in a single year.
Additionally, the high number of strikes can be credited to a retaliatory pattern against the group’s attack on the Manda Bay military base at the beginning of the year. While this appears to be a good enough motivation to attack the terrorist organization, AFRICOM has been working in collaboration with the Somali government and its African Union allies in ensuring that the group is dislodged from its strongholds and its capabilities diminished. It is especially evidenced by a significant number of strikes targeting leadership within the terror group.
While the United Nations continues to urge ceasefires across the globe to allow a united fight against the Coronavirus, the airstrikes and continued ground assaults against al Shabaab are significant seeing as GTO’s have urged their members to continue with the crusades against infidels especially since most national governments are distracted by the pandemic. Therefore, while the airstrikes against al Shabaab appear to be spiking their impact on the war against the jihadists both during the pandemic and after is very crucial as it limits the reach and exerted presence that the group can have in Somalia.
