Trump Approves Increased Precision Strikes Against Al-Shabaab in Somalia

President Donald Trump has given the green light to a Department of Defense request to increase the number of artillery and air strikes against the al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia, spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Somalia has been experiencing violence since the country devolved into civil war in the early 1990s. The state’s collapse provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab.

The group has been staging numerous attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.

"The President has approved a Department of Defense proposal to provide additional precision fires in support of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security forces operations to defeat al-Shabaab in Somalia," Davis stated.

Somali and AMISOM security forces have regained ground initially ceded to al-Shabaab, Davis added.

The ramped-up US fires support will further weaken al-Shabaab and limit the danger to partner forces as conduct operations. Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin — or al-Shabaab — is the militant wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts that took over most of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006.