Militants kill US Navy SEAL in Somalia, first since 'Black Hawk Down' in 1993

[Boats]

Militants kill US Navy SEAL in Somalia, first since 'Black Hawk Down' in 1993
By: SBS-AP 5-6-17
RE: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2...hawk-down-1993

(Photo's on site only)

The US has suffered its first combat death in Somalia since 1993, with a US Navy SEAL killed in a clash with al Shabaab militants.

A US Navy SEAL has been killed and two troops wounded in a clash with al Shabaab militants in Somalia, US officials say, in what appeared to be the first US combat death in the country since the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" disaster.

The White House has granted the US military broader authority to carry out strikes in Somalia against al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, the latest sign President Donald Trump is increasing US military engagement in the region.

US Africa Command said a service member was killed by small arms fire on Thursday while US forces were advising and assisting a Somali National Army operation in Barii about 60 km west of Mogadishu. They did not give further details on the identities of any of the three casualties.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the man who was killed was a US Navy SEAL. It was not immediately clear whether the wounded US forces were also from the elite US military organisation.

"Although US forces are not engaged in direct action (in Somalia), advise and assist missions are inherently dangerous," said Robyn Mack, a spokeswoman at the US military's Africa Command.

"US 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 Friday's incident, US troops were hunting an al Shabaab commander near the Shabelle river alongside Somali special forces, a Mogadishu-based security source told Reuters. There were no Somali casualties.

A spokesman for al Shabaab, which wants to overthrow the weak Western-backed Somali government and impose its own strict brand of Islamic law, said US troops had attacked one of their bases.

Somalia has been shattered by civil war that began when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other.

A U.S. military intervention there in 1993 ended after the "Black Hawk Down" incident, when 18 US soldiers were killed after Somali militia shot down two US helicopters in the capital Mogadishu.

African Union peacekeeping forces have been in Somalia since 2007, gradually expanding from the airport to secure the capital and eventually pushing into other major towns.

[Boats]

US soldier death in Somalia is first there since 1993
BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 05/05/17 02:06 PM EDT
RE: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/33...rst-since-1993

The U.S. soldier killed Thursday during a raid on al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia was the first U.S. combat death in the country since 1993, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Friday that during an advise-and-assist mission led by the Somali National Army, U.S. special operations troops unexpectedly came under fire.

The mission was targeting a compound of al-Shabaab militants that “has been associated with some attacks on facilities that we use and that our Somali partners use nearby.”

Davis said the U.S. forces used their aircraft to bring the Somali forces to the compound near Barii, about 40 miles west of the capital of Mogadishu.

The U.S. troops “were there maintaining a distance back as they conducted the operation and that’s when our forces came under fire. We had the unfortunate casualty.”

The attack, which wounded several U.S. troops, took place “in the early phase in the mission, they were on the ground,” Davis said.

Davis added that the al-Shabaab attackers were “quickly neutralized,” but would not say whether the mission was a success.

“The mission I will leave to the Somalis to characterize in terms of what the operational objectives achieved were but it was designed to target this compound,” Davis said.

The United States has worked with the Somali National Army since 2013 to help in the fight against the al Qaeda affiliate, but in recent weeks has increased its efforts. In March, President Trump gave the military more authority to launch airstrikes and conduct raids in the country.

Davis said there are about 50 U.S. special operations troops now working with African Union Mission in Somalia and local national commandos as part of an "advise and assist mission” for the Somali National Army, but “there are occasional additional groups that come in.”

In a statement on the casualty, U.S. Africa Command said it continues “to support our Somali and regional partners to systematically dismantle this al Qaeda affiliate, and help them to achieve stability and security throughout the region as part of the global counterterrorism effort.”

This is the fourth U.S. service member to be killed within the past week, with the casualties spread out over three war zones.

A soldier died on Saturday following an explosion outside of Mosul in northern Iraq, and two Army Rangers were killed early last Friday morning during a raid on ISIS militants in Afghanistan.