US Africa Command Launches 82nd Airstrike in Somalia Of the Year

From [ANTIWAR] US Africa Command on Monday night announced that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia, as the Trump administration continues its record-shattering bombing campaign in the country.

AFRICOM said the strike targeted al-Shabaab in the vicinity of Saacow, a village in Somalia’s southern Lower Juba region. The command offered no other details about the attack, as it stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments of potential civilian harm last year.

“Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said in its press release.

Based on AFRICOM’s numbers, the attack marks at least the 82nd US airstrike in Somalia this year, though there are signs that the US is not announcing each strike in the country.

The US has also been conducting an air war against an ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, and Drop Site News recently reported that a US strike was carried out in the region on September 3, though it has not been claimed by AFRICOM. [more]