US Airstrikes in Somalia on the rise

American airstrikes against Islamic extremists, Al Shabab in Somalia have sharply escalated in the recent years. The US is targeting training camps and other sites to reduce Al Shabab’s military capacity.

Background

The United States established diplomatic relations with Somalia in 1960, following its constituent parts' independence from British and Italian administration, respectively. A 1969 coup replaced Somalia's elected government with a military rule that reflected both ideological and economic dependence on the Soviet Union.  Following the war with Ethiopia in the 1970s, Somalia began turning toward the West, including the United States, for international support, military equipment, and economic aid.

On December 2, 2018, for the first time since the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu on January 5, 1991, the United States re-established a permanent diplomatic presence in Somalia.

Trump administration strategy in Africa addresses three core U.S. interests on the continent: advancing trade and commercial ties, making sure that money spent on U.S. aid is not wasteful and combating violence and Islamic extremism.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab is battling the UN-backed government in Somalia. Al-Shabab means The Youth in Arabic. It emerged as the radical youth wing of Somalia's now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu in 2006, before being forced out by Ethiopian forces. Al-Shabab advocates the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis.

Analysis

The US military said it killed 62 Al-Shabab fighters in six air raids in the vicinity of Gandadarshe in Somalia's south-central Banaadir province. The military's Africa Command (Africom) said that four attacks were carried out on December 15, killing 34 fighters, and two more on December 16, which killed 28. The weekend strikes were aimed at al-Shabab fighters who were preparing a major attack on Somalian government’s military base in the Lower Shabelle region.

The air attacks, among the deadliest this year, did not kill any civilians, the statement said. "At this time we assess these air strikes did not injure or kill any civilians." With these attacks, the U.S. military has carried out at least 46 airstrikes so far this year against al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida and Africa’s most active Islamic extremist group. Al Shabab, which is fighting to establish its version of Shariah law in Somalia, controls parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to stage deadly attacks in Mogadishu and other cities.

A Somalian intelligence officer told that the strikes on Gandarshe, a town along the Indian Ocean coast, were aimed at foiling a planned extremist attack. The airstrikes hit both a military camp and battle vehicles in Gandarshe, Al-Shabab has long used historic Gandarshe town, roughly 48 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Mogadishu, as a launching pad from for attacks, including car bombs that hit the capital. Al-Shabab uses parts of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct extremist attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations, and shelter radicals, said U.S. military statement.

The U.S. conducted 17 airstrikes in Somalia between 2007 and 2015. But those numbers have sharply escalated in recent years. In 2016, during Barack Obama's presidency, the U.S. launched 15 strikes in Somalia. That number rose to 31 in 2017 and at least 45 this year. The U.S. is targeting training camps and other sites to reduce al-Shabab's military capacity. There are between 3,000 and 7,000 al-Shabab militants in Somalia, along with up to 250 Islamic State group members. The US has a huge military base in neighbouring Djibouti, from where it launches attacks on the militants.

The strikes were carried out in close coordination with Somalia's government and were "conducted to prevent al-Shabab from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire and recruit for future attacks," said the U.S. military statement.

Assessment

Our assessment is that airstrikes have escalated sharply in order to deter terrorist organisation which is linked to Al Qaeda. We believe that the airstrikes in Somalia are likely to continue which will be effective in preventing Al Shabab militants to conduct any attacks. We feel that the US may have increased strategic depth in Somalia due to the heightened presence of Russian and Chinese military in Africa.