{"id":32338,"date":"2018-12-05T22:02:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T22:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/05\/somali-officials-report-deadly-us-backed-raid-on-al-shabab\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:57:40","slug":"somali-officials-report-deadly-us-backed-raid-on-al-shabab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/12\/05\/somali-officials-report-deadly-us-backed-raid-on-al-shabab\/","title":{"rendered":"Somali officials report deadly US-backed raid on al-Shabab"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014 Somali commandos backed by U.S. forces raided two al-Shabab checkpoints at which the extremists extort money from commercial vehicles, killing several fighters, Somali intelligence officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The officials also said two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/11\/22\/us-airstrikes-in-somalia-kill-6-al-shabab-extremists\/\" target=_blank>U.S. airstrikes<\/a> in the area during the overnight raid destroyed an explosives-laden minibus that was prepared for a complex attack on an unspecified location. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/10\/04\/secret-us-base-in-somalia-is-getting-some-emergency-runway-repairs\/\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. Africa Command<\/a> in a statement said four extremists were killed in a \u201cself-defense airstrike\u201d after U.S. and partner forces came under attack. It said no civilians were involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/08\/one-killed-several-wounded-in-attack-on-us-forces-in-somalia\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AIR-deployment-cover-1-web.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">One US special operations member killed, several wounded in attack in Somalia<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. forces were supported by an armed drone.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents of Awdhegle, a farming village in Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia, told The Associated Press they had heard gunfire and explosions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Something big happened here last night. We only know that al-Shabab was under attack, said one elder, who gave his name only as Yusuf for fear of reprisal from the al-Qaida-linked extremists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Then we woke up to find fighters sealed off the whole area in the morning,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. military has stepped up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/09\/13\/airstrike-kills-two-militants-after-us-troops-come-under-fire-in-somalia\/\" target=_blank>the fight against al-Shabab<\/a> since President Donald Trump took office, carrying out more airstrikes in 2017 than over the previous decade. The U.S. has carried out at least 38 airstrikes this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al-Shabab &#8220;uses portions of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct terror attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations and shelter radical terrorists,&#8221; the U.S. statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The extremist group uses widespread extortion of businessmen and travelers to fund its high-profile attacks in major cities such as Mogadishu, collecting millions of dollars a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. military in coordination with Somali forces, as well as an African Union force, have targeted al-Shabab&#8217;s finance operations in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month, Somali intelligence officials said at least four missiles hit a base for over 30 extremists assigned to collect livestock taxes from nomadic communities in the central Mudug region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In October, the AU force said the head of tax collection in Lower Shabelle region was killed after an ambush on a meeting of al-Shabab fighters in southern Somalia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Somali commandos backed by U.S. forces raided two al-Shabab checkpoints at which the extremists extort money from commercial vehicles, killing several fighters, Somali intelligence officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":61744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,13,16,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2738],"class_list":["post-32338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RGAWY3UABZFZTAOE6EICHYWYSE","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/12\/05\/somali-officials-report-deadly-us-backed-raid-on-al-shabab\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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