AFRICOM's Air War in Somalia

For the second time in four days, and for the third time since April, the United States has conducted an airstrike in Somalia.

The key point here is that all of these attacks are apparently being conducted by helicopter, all of them are being done at night, and all of them appear to be well planned surgical strikes against Al Shabab targets in southern Somalia.

The first attack came on April 6, 2024 near Kismayo where it was reported over 35 members of Al Shabab was killed. The second attack came on June 24, 2024, also near Kismayo, where helicopters reportedly attacked a military convoy clustering at a Al Shabab base. The third attack came last night when three helicopters attacked a training camp in Taabta village in the Afmadow District of Lower Juba. Noteworthy, the news report notes that the locals had been hearing airplanes the last few days, suggesting they were under aerial surveillance.

It has been very difficult to track down confirmation that the 'unidentified' helicopters are that of the United States, but CNN's Barbara Starr broke the story on Tuesday.

CNN has learned that U.S. military aircraft conducted a strike near Kismayo in southern Somalia last week as part of new secret joint Pentagon and CIA war against a terrorist group the U.S. believes is targeting Europe and the United States.

The U.S. hit a stronghold of al Shabaab, a Somali-based al Qaeda affiliate now in the U.S. crosshairs.

U.S. military and CIA personnel have gone to Somalia in recent months, gathering intelligence and meeting key Somali contacts, according to two U.S. officials. The White House believes that al Shabaab and al Qaeda are now hand in glove.

The video report found at the link is much more informative, and describes a new JSOC/CIA Somalia operation that is intended to go after high value targets in Al Shabab. Whether or not this is "new" or simply a better funded operation is subject to interpretation, but it does indicate a shift towards more US covert operations in Somalia and it also provides some much needed airpower for AMISOM, even if it isn't in direct support of their operations.

After tonight's attack in Lower Juba, which is the southern most region of Somalia along the Kenyan border, there simply wasn't a way the US would be able to deny responsibility anymore so any revelations by Barbara Starr today are of no consequence. There are only a few outfits in the world that can pull off two precision helicopter attacks conducted in the middle of the night in a failed state over a four day period, and only one nation in the world has both the capability and the political capacity to make those strikes happen.

It will never be confirmed, but US Army 160 SOAR - the same outfit that flew helicopters in the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden, and the same outfit that flew helicopters over Mogadishu of Black Hawk Down fame - is the most likely unit conducting these operations. Apparently they have returned to Somalia to kill Al Shabab big boys, and because they are the very best - it is a good bet that they will find a lot of success and the life expectancy of whoever is unlucky enough to be labeled the "#3 Al Qaeda guy" in Somalia has suddenly become very short. There is no danger in speculating US Army 160 SOAR is involved here, because there just aren't very many units the US has that can do this mission, and that isn't a secret.

And to be blunt, it is the height of parochial thinking within the fighter jock driven naval aviation community that after nearly 10 years after 9/11, the US Navy has still not stood up a naval aviation unit to do missions like the US Army 160 SOAR. Hopefully that will change soon.