Tag: africa

US Has Launched Over 50 Airstrikes In Somalia In 2025 But Virtually No MSM Coverage

US Africa Command has announced that it launched two separate airstrikes in Somalia on Sunday, as the Trump administration is continuing to bomb the country at a record pace, an air war that is receiving virtually no coverage in US media.

AFRICOM said that the strikes targeted the ISIS affiliate in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region, to the southeast of the port city of Bossaso. The command offered no further details, as it has stopped sharing estimates of casualties or assessments of potential civilian harm.

AFRICOM confirmed to Antiwar.com in an email that the latest attack marked the 51st US airstrike in Somalia of the year, putting the Trump administration on track to easily break the annual record, which President Trump set at 63 in 2019. Antiwar.com is also seeking details on casualties from AFRICOM, but so far hasn’t received a figure.

The US has been backing local Puntland forces against ISIS in battles in the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region. Puntland Counter-Terrorism Operations announced on Sunday — the day the US launched two airstrikes — that it was conducting a “clearance operation” against ISIS remnants in the mountains and said the area being targeted was “last used by terrorists as a hideout with their foreign women and children.”

Puntland’s forces announced a new military operation on June 30 against ISIS-affiliated militants, and since then, the US has launched at least four airstrikes in the area. The ISIS affiliate in Somalia started in 2015 as an offshoot of al-Shabaab, a group the US has also been bombing in southern and central Somalia.

In the war against al-Shabaab, the US is backing the Mogadishu-based Federal Government, which controls little territory inside Somalia’s internationally recognized borders. Somali media reported on Tuesday that government forces killed 15 al-Shabaab fighters in the central Hiraan region, an operation that was supported by “international partners,” likely a reference to US AFRICOM.

Keep reading

Illness and Endless Wars

Hey, you remember that guy, right? You know, the candidate who, in his third campaign for president in 2024 insisted that he was the one who would remove this country’s “warmongers and America-last globalists” and that returning him to the White House would “turn the page forever on those foolish, stupid days of never-ending war. They never ended.”

Yes, indeed, America’s wars haven’t ended, not by a long shot, not with Donald Trump back in the White House a second time. And yes (again), he did indeed swear that he was done with such wars. But then he wasn’t thinking about Bibi Netanyahu, was he? He wasn’t thinking about Israel bombing Iran. In typical fashion, he wasn’t thinking three (two? one?) steps ahead. And now, of course, we have Iran. I know, I know, after his bombing runs against that country’s nuclear sites, there is at least what passes for a truce in place (until, of course, there isn’t). With Netanyahu once again focused on killing Palestinians in Gaza and Trump focused on… well, himself, it’s easy enough to forget that he did indeed bring American-style warfare back to a Middle East that already had an estimated 40,000-50,000 American soldiers stationed at perhaps 19 sites across the region. And mind you, he hasn’t stopped implying that there might be worse to come. (“Can it start again? I guess someday, it can. It could maybe start soon.”)

And with all of that looming, and the unpredictable Donald Trump in the White House, let TomDispatch regular Andrea Mazzarino, one of the founders of the invaluable Costs of War Project, take you on a grim voyage into what war — in fact, the wars this country has so regularly fought in this century across the Greater Middle East and Africa (where, by the way, the Trump administration is still sending American planes on remarkably regular bombing runs in Somalia at a pace that could set a Trumpian record this year) — does to our health. It isn’t pretty, believe me.

Keep reading

DOGE Team Terminates 256 Wasteful Contracts Worth $14.3 Billion – Including $850k USAID Contract for “Resilience Adviser” in Somalia

Although they are not making as many headlines as earlier this year when they were first introduced, the DOGE Team is hard at work and continues to save money for American taxpayers.

Earlier this week DOGE announced they had eliminated another $14.3 billion in bogus contracts, including international contracts tied to USAID.

The DOGE team terminated one contract tied to USAID worth $850,000 for a “resilience adviser” in Somalia.

Let’s hope the DOGE team digs deeper into that slush fund. Where do you suppose the money really went?

Keep reading

US Launches Its 44th Airstrike in Somalia This Year

US Africa Command announced on Tuesday that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace.

AFRICOM said the strike targeted the ISIS affiliate in northeastern Somalia’s Puntland region, where the US is backing local forces. The command offered no details on the strike other than saying that it was launched to the southeast of Bossaso, a port city in Puntland.

“Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said. Starting in April, the command stopped sharing details about casualties or assessments of civilian harm.

Based on AFRICOM’s count, the bombing brings the total number of US airstrikes in Somalia this year to 44. New America, an organization that tracks the air war, has counted 45 airstrikes, which include one strike that was reported on but not claimed by AFRICOM.

The Trump administration is well on its way to breaking the record for the total number of US airstrikes in Somalia in a single year, which President Trump set at 63 in 2019.

US airstrikes in Puntland could escalate in the coming days and weeks as local Puntland forces announced a new operation against ISIS on Monday. The US has also been supporting the Mogadishu-based Federal Government in its fight against al-Shabaab in southern and central Somalia.

Keep reading

Post-coup juntas across the Sahel face serious crises

In Mali, General Assimi Goïta, who took power in a 2020 coup, now plans to remain in power through at least the end of this decade, as do his counterparts in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. As long-ruling juntas consolidate power in national capitals, much of the Sahelian terrain remains out of government control.

Recent attacks on government security forces in Djibo (Burkina Faso), Timbuktu (Mali), and Eknewane (Niger) have all underscored the depth of the insecurity. The Sahelian governments face a powerful threat from jihadist forces in two organizations, Jama‘at Nusrat al-Islam wa-l-Muslimin (the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims, JNIM, which is part of al-Qaida) and the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP). The Sahelian governments also face conventional rebel challengers and interact, sometimes in cooperation and sometimes in tension, with various vigilantes and community-based armed groups.

The roots of instability in the Sahel extend both to specific crises in the 2010s (especially a rebellion in northern Mali in 2012) and to broader, systemic issues having to do with land use, resource competition, poverty, official corruption, the spread of jihadist mobilization through a chain of socially combustible zones, and citizens’ loss of faith in institutions. Government responses largely fueled insurgencies, as security forces committed abuses and collective punishment, and as civilian leaders pursued inconsistent and often tone-deaf policies.

Foreign intervention also inflamed the situation. France, the European Union, and the United States pursued a narrowly security-focused policy matrix that failed to reverse the escalation in violence in the 2010s and that crumbled upon contact with the coups of the early 2020s. Russia, the new partner of choice for the central Sahelian regimes, supplied an even more brutal dose of violence, but one that produced no concrete gains for national governments other than the Malian authorities’ triumphant but ultimately isolated victory in Kidal, a northern rebel stronghold. The jihadists, who delight in having a foreign adversary, have replaced the French with the Russians in much of their propaganda and targeting.

As the juntas have struggled on the battlefield, they have hollowed out their countries’ politics, subverting decades of fragile but meaningful democratic experiences. Political parties have been banned, journalists arrested, critics conscripted, and associations dissolved. There are a few niches of resistance remaining, particularly labor unions, but those have largely challenged the juntas on a sector-by-sector basis over issues connected to pay and conditions; unlike in 1991 in Mali or 2014 in Burkina Faso, broader revolutions involving multi-sector coalitions have not coalesced. In fact, although it is difficult to measure given the lack of regular and reliable polling as well as the near absence now of investigative journalism, the juntas appear to enjoy substantial popularity. Military men have made invigorating promises about restoring security, championing national sovereignty, revitalizing economies, and bringing people dignity. Even as those promises remain unfulfilled, the message is clearly thrilling to a wide domestic audience.

Keep reading

Biden Judge DEFIES Supreme Court, Says His Order Barring Deportation of Illegal Aliens to South Sudan Remains in Effect – Stephen Miller Responds

US District Judge Brian Murphy on Monday evening defied the US Supreme Court and said his order barring deportation of illegal aliens to South Sudan remains in effect.

In a 6-3 decision, the US Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump Administration to resume deporting illegal aliens to ‘third-party’ countries.

The Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration’s emergency application and paused Judge Brian Murphy’s order blocking the third-country removals.

Liberal Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented.

In her dissent, Sotomayor said, “Rather than allowing our lower court colleagues to manage this high-stakes litigation with the care and attention it plainly requires, this Court now intervenes to grant the Government emergency relief from an order it has repeatedly defied. I cannot join so gross an abuse of the Court’s equitable discretion.”

Last month US District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, said the Trump Administration violated his court order to provide the aliens with “meaningful” due process since they were being sent to “third-party” countries.

Some of the aliens are from Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba, so sending them to South Sudan puts them in danger, attorneys argued.

Judge Murphy said the US must maintain custody of the dangerous aliens during the process.

Judge Murphy also ordered the US government to provide interpreters and counsel to the aliens during the interview.

President Trump fumed and said that because of the judge’s order, 8 of the most violent criminals on earth are currently being held in Djibouti, a tiny country on the Horn of Africa next to Ethiopia.

The US government doesn’t even have a detention facility in Djibouti, so 11 ICE agents are detaining the aliens in a conference room in a converted Conex shipping container on the US Naval base in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.

Keep reading

US Launches Two More Airstrikes in Somalia

US Africa Command announced on Saturday that its forces launched two more airstrikes in Somalia as the Trump administration continues to bomb the country at a record pace, an air campaign with virtually no media coverage of the conflict in the US.

AFRICOM said that one of the strikes was launched on June 14 and targeted al-Shabaab northwest of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. The command said the other strike was launched on June 15 in Somalia’s northeastern Puntland region and targeted the ISIS affiliate in the area.

AFRICOM offered no other details about the airstrikes as it has stopped sharing figures on casualties and assessments of civilian harm. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” the command said in both press releases.

Keep reading

Ilhan Omar Deletes Juneteenth Post After Called Out for Present Day Slavery in Somalia

Somalia refugee Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) deleted a Juneteenth post on slavery Thursday after being called out for slavery currently being practiced in her home country. A different Juneteenth message by Omar that did not mention slavery remains online.

Omar originally posted, “160 years ago on June 19, 1865, slavery ended in this country. Today, we celebrate Black freedom, resilience, and achievement, and continue the work to root out systematic racism from our policies and institutions.”

At 1:10 p.m. EDT, MAGA poster Gunther Eagleman replied, “Somalia still has slaves. Ilhan should go fight to free her own people.”

Keep reading

Trump’s approach to Africa lauded by top Republican as recent airstrikes show ‘outside the box’ thinking

The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has lashed out at China, Russia and Iran for threatening U.S. national security interests in Africa in exclusive comments to Fox News Digital.

In a wide-ranging interview, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, discussed the Trump administration’s approach to Africa, highlighting terrorism, war and concerns over trade on the continent. Risch emphasized the importance of Africa to the U.S. 

“The economic opportunities in Africa cannot be understated, and the United States needs to have a seat at the table regarding trade and investment in the region,” he said. “At the same time, there are serious national security challenges we need to address head on to include terrorism, widespread conflicts affecting regional stability, migration and trafficking.”

Russia, China and Iran have been criticized by Risch as being ‘malign actors’ in Africa, accused of military interventions, exploitative trade practices, and in Iran’s case, reported to be working on an agreement to extract refined “yellowcake” uranium for its controversial nuclear program.

“The malign actions of China and Russia, and even regional actors like Iran, are serious challenges to our national security interests in Africa,” Risch said. “Countering the influence of these aggressors is as much about the U.S. pursuing greater partnerships with African states as it is about responding to the challenges put forward by countries like Russia and China in Africa.”

Risch weighed in on the role of the U.S. military on the continent, saying it “is to protect the American people, first and foremost, and that goal should remain the same in Africa. We have serious security threats in Africa, and we must take them seriously. Remember, Osama bin Laden hid in Sudan, bombed our embassies there, and planned his 9/11 attack.”

Keep reading

US Launches Another Airstrike in Somalia’s Puntland Region, Says ISIS Targeted

US Africa Command has announced that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia’s Puntland region as the Trump administration continues its air war in the country at a record pace, with virtually no media coverage.

As usual, the command offered no details on the strikes, only claiming that it targeted the small ISIS affiliate to the southeast of the port city of Bossaso. “Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security,” AFRICOM said.

Based on the count from AFRICOM, the strike marks the 39th time the US bombed Somalia this year. New America, which tracks the US air war, counted the attack as the 40th US strike this year, as it includes airstrikes that have been reported but not confirmed by AFRICOM.

Keep reading