Pentagon Provides Updates on Support for Operations in Yemen, Somalia
WASHINGTON — Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis updated the press here today on U.S. operations with local partners in Yemen against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and in Somalia against al-Shabab.
Air Force Senior Airman Garrett Cornett, a loadmaster from the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, waits for a cargo load during a mission in Somalia in support of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, May 26, 2017.
In Yemen’s Shabwah Governorate yesterday, according to the United Arab Emirates’ Ambassador to the United States, Yemeni government armed forces launched a major operation against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula with support from UAE and U.S. forces.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula
Today, Davis said, a small number of U.S. forces “are supporting our regional counterterrorism partners in ongoing operations in Yemen against [al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula] to degrade the group’s ability to coordinate external terrorist operations and to use Yemen territory as a safe place for terror plotting.”
Shabwah Governorate has a heavy al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula presence, he added.
U.S. support in this part of Yemen is a continuation of what U.S. forces have been doing there since Jan. 29, when a raid by U.S. forces killed an estimated 14 al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula terrorists.
According to a US Central Command news release at the time, “the raid is one in a series of aggressive moves against terrorist planners in Yemen and worldwide,” and that similar operations have produced intelligence on al-Qaida logistics, recruiting and financing efforts.
Al-Shabab in Somalia
On July 30, US Forces took part in a raid near Tortoroow in southern Somalia that targeted a senior member of al-Shabab.
“We can now confirm,” Davis said, “that the strike killed one of al-Shabab’s senior leaders, Ali Mohammed Hussein, also known as Ali Jabal.”
The senior al-Shabab terrorist was one of the organization’s leaders, he added, responsible for leading al-Shabab forces operating in the Mogadishu and Banadir regions, and planning and executing attacks against the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Hussein used the Lower Shabelle region, a known al-Shabab safe haven, as a hub for these activities, Davis said, adding that his removal disrupts al-Shabab’s ability to plan and conduct attacks in Mogadishu and to coordinate efforts among al-Shabab regional commanders.
“We continue to work there in Somalia in coordination with our partners with the Somali Defense Forces and other allies,” he said, “to systematically dismantle al-Shabab and to help achieve and bring stability and security throughout the region.”
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