Inside the US War On Terror in Somalia

We are embedded in the Somali special forces unit known as Dunob. These are US-trained commandos who have just received information about two targeted houses that are supposedly hiding Al Shabab militants. We're heading to the village right now to see if we can arrest them. these guys these dunb fighters are

somalia

's best weapon against the al-shabab

terror

ist group they are deploying in one of their first operations since their american partners left the country in january it is the only time journalists have been allowed to film a foreign raid The house they searched was empty so they moved on to the next foreign house, but it wasn't a bomb, it was just a box of tangled wires.

After arresting half a dozen men, it became clear that none of them were in Al Shabab because there was nothing. found in either of the two target houses, would he consider the bad information that lair had received? The doors you knock down to these homes will not be responsible for replacing those doors. How long do you think the war with Al-Shabab will last? an optimistic view of what lies ahead in Somalia's war on

terror

ism, considering that until the United States left there was no end in sight, the United States spent hundreds of millions on training equipment and air support for the Dun- Up that the US military says it now conducts Dun-Off. more than half of counterterrorism operations and has made it difficult for al-shabab to function, but in December President Trump made a bid to exit the endless wars and ordered US troops out of Somalia, but they did not return home.

He went to bases in Kenya and Djibouti, leaving Dena with less than half of the 3,000 commandos originally promised. Did you expect the Americans to leave so soon? How does America continue to support you here even though they are not physically there? Here it is: Over the past 14 years, al-Shabab's campaign of violence has killed thousands of people across the Horn of Africa, including American soldiers at a military base that has just become home to many of the troops that just leave the country they now control almost a quarter of Somalia. and they are funneling the money they earn through extortion to al qaeda having the united states in

somalia

helped al-shabab recruit the group, the numbers increased about six to one we are here in an undisclosed location in mogadishu and we are We're about to meet with a guy who says he was a former al-Shabab intelligence officer and we hope to find out how al-Shabab received the news that American troops have withdrawn from the country.

The news could not confirm this man's former rank in the group. But we do know that he is still in communication with his members now that the Americans have withdrawn their troops from Somalia. How has Al Shabab responded to that news? Are Americans right in thinking that Al Shabab wants to attack the United States outside of Somalia? They are considered a formidable force to be reckoned with now that the United States is gone. Militants are not the only ones who fear American planes flying overhead. A monitoring group estimates that American bombing raids against Al Shabab could have killed up to 143 civilians alone.

US military admits five, including a member of the Kusa Omar family, Omar is nine years old, he lived in al-Shabab territory until last April anyway, do you remember what it sounded like? Ah, hey, I'm really sorry one day. I'm so sorry, do you know who did this to you and your family? Bye, I did it. Yes, do you know who was piloting the plane? a very deliberate intelligence process to confirm the target, major general dagman anderson is in charge of all US special forces operations in Africa due to repositioning and not having those boots on the ground, is there a fear that the intelligence we have is not valid?

So clear when we make these decisions, you know to launch a drone attack, so the standard for any attack remains the same if we don't have the quality intelligence, we're not going to conduct the attack that President Biden is now demanding of the White House. . He approved all airstrikes in Somalia, but he said nothing to indicate what would happen next for troops on the ground. If Biden decided to reverse the decision and send troops back to Somalia, how difficult would it be? We have not made that evaluation. It's possible? Of course, it may be my job to make sure there are options available to decision makers and our policymakers.

If it were ever necessary to be in Somalia, to begin with, I would say yes, it is important that the international community participate in Somalia al -shabaab is a threat to the international community it is a threat to the united states, we must make it clear that it is part of al qaeda and al qaeda has already demonstrated the willingness and ability to attack the west in the united states, al-shabab sees The fact that the United States has repositioned itself outside of Somalia as a victory does not mean that somehow the United States United States has failed in its mission.

I don't agree with that at all, we are still engaged, so even if we are not there persistently, we still have a periodic engagement when al-shabaab claim victory, they are probably doing it a little prematurely because they still have to face the knob and they may be small in number but they are quite capable just because it's propaganda doesn't mean it's the truth and of course that's what al-shabab is going to publish the africom statement last year said they hoped to support danab until 2027 and increase the force of more than 3,000 commandos, less than half of that number have been trained for that.

Is there a feeling that we have left them in the lurch? So I don't think we left them in the lurch. We have given them high quality training. They are very capable. Counterterrorism is difficult. There are no two ways to do it. It is not without risk and the threat our partners face is real, but ultimately this is a Somali problem and this is a problem that the Somali people and the DNA are going to have to face abroad. Do you even want Americans to return abroad? To start, what was the reasoning behind the positioning? So, that was a decision that was made at the higher levels of government, so I can't really speak to what decision we executed.

I was not part of the discussions that went into that decision. Did they give you a reason why you needed to find a way to reposition the troops? This was part of the overall deposit and effort. There were several efforts that took place when we were repositioned in Iraq and Afghanistan, so it was combined with that overall effort. Do you think we have lost by not having more troops on the ground in Somalia? I think when you say what have we lost, we lost that close relationship and day-to-day point of contact, but that doesn't mean the relationship is Losing it just means that we have to work harder for it and that we have to stay committed and we have to be deliberate about how we engage.

Africa has verified and confirmed that, as you know, civilians have been killed due to US drone strikes. know a 10 year old girl who was part of a family that was hit by one of the drone attacks, you know her sister is still suffering from complications from that attack and you know she still has surgeries she needs to go through what her family Shouldn't they be compensated for you know the suffering that they've had to endure in the first place, yeah, it's heartbreaking, it's every time you're in a war zone, every time there are civilian casualties due to conflict, it's heartbreaking. and it is very frustrating, it is frustrating as a commander and as a father, when we carry out these attacks there is a very deliberate intelligence process to confirm the objective and what I can say is that we cannot claim perfection but we do take responsibility and we do it very deliberately and we do it with a very methodical process to improve and maintain ourselves at a high level.

I believe we do it better than any other nation and I know for a fact that we do it better than any terrorist organization and that al-shabab is not responsible for the thousands of civilian casualties they have inflicted, over four thousand since 2010, but for one day of family in which the United States makes a serious mistake like that and they confirm it and admit it. Does that family know that any compensation is a political decision and that is something that I would recommend they discuss with higher level policy makers and the state department for that level of decision?