U.S. Navy SEAL killed in Somalia clash
2 wounded, 1 dead in fight with al-Shabaab militants, the first casualty since 'Black Hawk Down' disaster
A U.S. Navy SEAL was killed and two soldiers were wounded in a clash with al-Shabaab militants in Somalia, the U.S. military said on Friday, in what appeared to be the first American casualties in the country since the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" disaster.
The White House has granted the U.S. military broader authority to carry out strikes in Somalia against al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab, the latest sign U.S. President Donald Trump is increasing military engagement in the region.
U.S. Africa Command said the serviceman was killed by small arms fire on Thursday while U.S. forces were advising and assisting a Somali National Army operation in Barii about 60 kilometres west of Mogadishu.
"Although U.S. forces are not engaged in direct action [in Somalia], advise-and-assist missions are inherently dangerous," said Robyn Mack, a spokeswoman at the U.S. military's Africa Command.
U.S. Africa Command said U.S. personnel were working alongside members of the Somali military.
"U.S. forces are assisting partner forces to counter al-Shabaab in Somalia to degrade the al-Qaeda affiliate's ability to recruit, train and plot external terror attacks throughout the region and in America," it said in a statement.
In the Black Hawk Down incident, which was depicted in a movie of that name, 18 U.S. soldiers were killed after Somali militia shot down two U.S. helicopters in the capital of Mogadishu.
'Quickly neutralized'
In the latest incident, U.S. troops were hunting an al-Shabaab commander near the Shabelle River alongside Somali special forces, a Mogadishu-based security source told Reuters.
A spokesman for al-Shabaab, which wants to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government and impose its own strict brand of Islamic law, said U.S. troops had attacked one of their bases, but that there were no Somali casualities.
"Last night at 1 a.m. U.S. forces attacked us in Darusalam village, in lower Shabelle region. After fighting, the U.S. forces ran away," said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab's military operation spokesman.
"They left ammunition and weapons on the scene and bloodstains. First they had a helicopter which landed some kilometres away from our base, to which they walked. We inflicted heavy casualties — some forces died and others were wounded but we do not have the exact figure."
The Pentagon told reporters in a briefing Friday, however, that the militant attackers were "quickly neutralized."
"The objective [of the operation] was a compound and a group of people in that compound who were associated with attacks against U.S., Somalia and Amisom forces," said Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis, referring to African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers.
Residents of Darusalam village said the gunfire lasted for around 10 minutes. "Last night, helicopters hovered over us and we were scared. Then late at night, there was fighting," said resident Mohamed Hassan.
Somalia has been shattered by civil war that began when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other. African Union peacekeeping forces have been in Somalia since 2007 as part of a reconstruction drive.