In Somalia, the U.S. is scorching the snake, but not killing it

Ahmed Adel

The United States Africa Command has revealed that it has succeeded in killing a senior leader of the al-Qaeda-leaning movement, al-Shabaab, in Somalia.

It said it killed Bashir Mohamed Mahmoud in an airstrike on March 9. It added that Mahmoud is suspected of involvement in an attack on a U.S. military base southeastern Kenya in early January this year. The attack left three U.S. troops dead.

This is the 20th strike by the U.S. against al-Shabaab since the beginning of 2020. In 2019, the U.S. launched 64 strikes against the al-Qaeda-affiliated movement, up from 43 strikes in 2018.

U.S. Army Africa Commanding General, Roger L. Cloutier Jr., described al-Shabaab on March 9 as one of the largest challenges in Africa.

He added at a meeting at the Pentagon that the movement works to attack the U.S. all the time.

He called for dealing with the danger represented by this movement more seriously.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said U.S. airstrikes against al-Shabaab aim at preventing the movement from posing dangers to his country.

Undermining al-Shabaab

In February this year, a U.S. military official revealed that his country’s main mission in 2021 would be to undermine al-Shabaab and the Islamic State group in Somalia.

He added that the aim of this would be to make these two movements and other terrorist groups in eastern Africa incapable of harming U.S. interests in the region.

Despite repeated strikes and assistance by local militaries, al-Shabaab represents a growing threat and works to attack the U.S., the official said.

Al-Shabaab has between 5,000 and 9,000 fighters, according to figures released by the U.S. Africa Command.

Nevertheless, the current U.S. policy towards the movement, namely killing one or two of its fighters every day, means that the U.S. needs around 13 years to totally eradicate it.

This means that the war against al-Shabaab will have no end in the foreseeable future.