BFF-13 US commando killed, four wounded in Somalia attack

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US commando killed, four wounded in Somalia attack

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – An American commando was killed Friday
in an attack in southern Somalia that also wounded four US military personnel
along with a Somali soldier, officials said.

The attack occurred in Jubaland, where a large force comprising about 800
Somali, Kenyan and US troops were working to clear a large area of Al-Qaeda-
aligned Al-Shabaab fighters.

The multinational force “came under mortar and small-arms fire at
approximately 2:45 pm Mogadishu time (1145 GMT), killing one US service
member and injuring four US service members and one partner force member,”
the US military’s Africa Command said in a statement.

A military official told AFP the dead American was a special operations
commando, but further details were not being released pending notification of
next of kin.

US President Donald Trump offered his condolences via Twitter.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the families of our serviceman who was
killed and his fellow servicemen who were wounded in Somolia. They are truly
all HEROES,” Trump tweeted, misspelling the name of the country in which the
attack took place.

The mission’s objectives were to “clear Shabaab from contested areas,
liberate villages from Shabaab control and establish a permanent combat
outpost designed to increase the span of federal government of Somalia
security and governance,” Africa Command said.

“The US provided advice, assistance and aerial surveillance during the
mission.”

More than 500 American forces are partnering with African Union Mission to
Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali national security forces in counterterrorism
operations, and have conducted frequent raids and drone strikes on Al-Shabaab
training camps throughout Somalia.

Last year, a Navy SEAL was killed in a nighttime attack in Somalia, marking
the first US military combat death there since the infamous “Black Hawk Down”
events of 1993, when 18 American servicemen died in the Battle of Mogadishu.

Since 2007, Al-Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the internationally
backed government in Somalia.

BSS/AFP/AU/08:20 hrs