US Strikes al-Qaida Group in Somalia - dozens killed

According to a press release from US Africa Command,US Forces,in coordination with the Somali Government,conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab Islamist extremists,who are associated with al-Qaida,on 12 October 2018.It took place in the Haradere area of Mugdu Province,Somalia.The current assessment is that about 60 militants were killed,which makes it the biggest strike since 21 November 2017,in which around 100 al-Shabaab members were killed.No civilians were killed or injured in the latest strike,the assessment found.
Such strikes reduce al-Shabaab's ability to plot future attacks;disrupt the leadership networks;and degrade the freedom of manoeuvre in the region,AFRICOM said.*
The enemy has used parts 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,thus destabilising Somalia and its neighbours,while threatening the interests of the US and its allies in the region.*
Baledogle Airfield,70 miles/112.654 km northwest of the capital Mogadishu,is a former Soviet airbase now used by multinational forces,including the US,which has launched drone attacks against al-Shabaab from it.It is believed that armed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones were sent on this latest mission.The US has also launched  missiles from US Navy warships against the militants.
MQ-9s are additionally used for high altitude surveillance missions.The Reaper is flown by the Royal Air Force and Italian Air Force as well.*

East Africa War:US Special Operator Killed in Somalia Firefight

A member of the US Special Operations Forces was killed Friday and four others wounded when their position came under attack by al-Shabaab militants in Jubaland State,about 217 miles SW of the Somali capital Mogadishu.A Somali Soldier was also reportedly wounded in the mortar and small arms ambush by the Islamist extremists,who have formally been a unit of al-Qaida since 2012.US SOFs and about 800 Somali and Kenyan forces were on an operation to clear al-Shabaab from the area north of the port of Kismayo.US Army Green Berets,US Navy SEALs and US Marine Raiders are all active in the unstable nation in East Africa,serving in US Africa Command in an advise and assist capacity for the local forces.*
In October 2017,al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a VBIED attack that killed more than 500 people in Mogadishu;while in May 2017,another US Soldier was killed in an al-Shabaab attack about 40 miles west of Mogadishu.*
US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) reportedly has a fleet of armed Reaper drones in Somalia for self-defence airstrikes or assistance to East African nations;while the CIA has a covert base at Mogadishu airport,possibly sending up both armed and unarmed surveillance drones,not to mention deploying members of its ultra-secret Ground Branch paramilitary division.
JSOC has also used attack helicopters;AC-130 gunships;and fighter jets to help both Kenya and Ethiopia in their struggle against al-Shabaab.*
The US has been involved in counterterror operations against militant Islam in Somalia since the early years of this century.Around 500 US troops are believed to be in Somalia.*
The US Marine Corps Raider Regiment is the principal combat component of Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC).

Pentagon Identifies US Service Member Killed in Somalia - New England native excelled in special ops

The Pentagon has announced that Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken,38,of Falmouth Maine,was killed while on a raid with Somali commandos against al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab about 40 miles west of the Somali capital Mogadishu.SCSWO Milliken and his team were helicoptered into the raid and immediately took fire from the militants.He was wounded along with two other Americans and medivaced to the neighbouring nation of Djibouti,where he died of his wounds.*
SCSWO Milliken was a husband and father who resided with his family in Virginia Beach,Virginia.He was a member of SEAL Team Six,the unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.SCSWO Milliken was a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghan Wars,earning a total of four Bronze Star Medals for his service,among many others.A graduate of the University of Connecticut,he had been in the Navy for 13 years.*
Fifty US Special Warfare Operatives are currently serving in a train and advise capacity with the African Union forces in Somalia.SCSWO Milliken was the first US service member to be killed in action in Somalia since 1993,when 18 US service members died in the Battle of Mogadishu,which was dramatised in the movie "Blackhawk Down."*
According to a Somali official,the special operation was surgically targeting senior members of al-Shabaab hiding in the area and a media outlet supportive of the Islamist extremists.It was considered a success as several of the terrorists were killed.*
SCSWO Milliken will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery.