US militarization revived under pretext of counter-terrorism: Attack on ISIS positions in Somalia
Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism– According to BBC Persian, Donald Trump says that the US military has targeted a senior ISIS attack planner and other members of the group in Somalia on his orders.
The US president wrote on social media that “these killers, hiding in caves, were threatening America and our allies… These attacks destroyed the caves where they lived and killed many terrorists without harming civilians.”
The Somali president’s office said they had been informed of the US attack on ISIS leadership in the north of the country.
Trump did not name any of those targeted.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in a post on the X Network that he “is aware of America’s unwavering support in the fight against international terrorism and welcomes the continuation of this commitment under the strong leadership of President Donald Trump.”
“Our initial assessment is that several (ISIS) operatives were killed in these airstrikes, and no civilians were harmed,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett said in a statement.
He said the strikes “further degrade ISIS’s ability to plan and execute terrorist attacks” and “send a clear message that the United States is always ready to find and eliminate terrorists.”
Hegsett said the strikes were carried out in the Julis Mountains in northeastern Somalia.
U.S. strikes on terrorist groups have become a controversial issue under the Obama administration, with many civilian casualties. In many cases, U.S. drone strikes on terrorist groups have resulted in civilian casualties for various reasons, and it has been later determined that no terrorists were killed in the strikes. This new round of strikes on terrorist groups is likely to have the same results.
