Trump confirms U.S. strikes on IS in Somalia

Donald Trump revealed on Saturday that the United States carried out airstrikes against the Islamic State in northern Somalia, weeks after the deadly attack in New Orleans claimed by the terrorist group.

In a social media post, the US president wrote that a senior IS planner and recruits were targeted in the operation but he did not identify them.

The office of Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said the operation “reinforces the strong security partnership” between the two countries in “combating extremist threats.

The Pentagon’s counterterrorism strategy in Africa has been strained as two key partners, Chad and Niger, ousted U.S. forces last year and took over key bases that the U.S. military had used to train and conduct missions against terrorist groups across the Sahel.

U.S. military officials have raised concerns over the growing influence of IS cells in the region, which are now receiving increasing guidance from the group’s leadership based in northern Somalia.