U.S. Airstrikes in Somalia Hits ISIS

American forces launched airstrikes on ISIS forces in Somalia following an ISIS attack on local forces and their American advisors on July 22, 2020.

The United States has around 500 troops in Somalia, officially functioning in an advisory and training role as the Somali government and military battle both the al-Shabaab insurgency and a smaller Islamic State/ISIS insurgency.  Al-Shabaab is aligned with al-Qaida, while Somalia-ISIS is allied to the larger Islamic State group.

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Miguel Castellanos, deputy director of operations, AFRICOM. “We continue to apply pressure on terrorist groups and assist our Somali partners in disrupting their operations,” and “we continue our support to rid Somalia of the likes of ISIS and al-Shabaab.”

This dual war on two different factions of Sunni Islamic Jihadists is being fought by the Somali government with a lot of assistance from the African Union forces, largely made up of Ethiopian, Kenyan, and Burundian troops.  Just last week, Ethiopian troops fought off an al-Shabaab attack on one of their bases.

The U.S. airstrikes, according to U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), killed seven militants.  The American attack followed a ground assault on Somali troops and U.S. advisors.  Local Somali officials claimed their ground forces killed some 20 ISIS militants.