One U.S. special operations soldier was killed and four U.S. service members wounded in an “enemy attack” on Friday, June 8, in Somalia, the U.S. military said — casualties that are likely to put renewed scrutiny on America’s counterterror operations in Africa.
It’s the first public announcement of a U.S. military combat death on the continent since four U.S. service members were killed in a militant ambush in Niger in October.
Al-Shabab claimed credit for the attack, the SITE Intelligence Group said in a statement Friday.
The U.S. has about 1,000 special operations personnel in Africa. The last killing of a U.S. service member in Somalia was in May 2017 during an counterterrorist operation west of Mogadishu.
https://twitter.com/GIASP_Intel/status/1004644062627074048
President Donald Trump paid tribute on Twitter Friday night, offering “thoughts and prayers” to the families of the soldier who was killed and those who were wounded. “They are truly all HEROES,” he tweeted.
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