US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced on Monday that a US service member was injured during an attack conducted by al-Shabaab* militants against American and Somali forces in the vicinity of Jana Cabdalle, Somalia.
In a Monday statement, Col. Chris Karns, director of US Africa Command Public Affairs, said that militants belonging to the terrorist group attacked troops using "mortar fire" and a “vehicle employed as an improvised explosive device”, adding that the US soldier suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is in stable condition.
The colonel said that at least one al-Shabaab member was killed during the clashes which have taken place at a base belonging to the Somali special forces Danab Brigade.
“One US service member was injured in an attack by Al-Shabaab this morning in the vicinity of Jana Cabdalle, Somalia. US and Somali forces were conducting an advise, assist and accompany mission when Al-Shabaab attacked using a vehicle employed as an improvised explosive device and mortar fire,” Karns said, quoted by CNN. “The US regularly conducts advise and assist missions with Somali partner forces. The collective efforts of the US and Somalia place pressure on Al-Shabaab, limiting their ability to extend their reach and movement”.
Karns stressed that al-Shabaab “remains a dangerous enemy”, adding that “continued pressure is being placed on this al Qaeda-affiliated threat to limit its ability to expand and export violence, terrorism, and crime more broadly”.
Earlier in the day, the Somali National Army (SNA) announced that at least two of its soldiers had been killed and two others wounded, in addition to the US service member, in Monday’s attack by al-Shabaab militants, according to Reuters.
On 25 August, AFRICOM carried out an airstrike targeting a senior al-Shabaab member, five days after a similar airstrike against another member of the organisation said to have been making explosives for the group.
US forces were sent to Somalia in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States to fight al-Qaeda* and its affiliates, such as al-Shabaab. As of the present, 600 US military personnel are located in the East African country.
*Al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda are terrorist organisations banned in Russia and many countries aroud the world.
