The operation is at least the second time US troops have landed in Somalia after a targeted strike, though no forces have been stationed there since shortly after the “Black Hawk Down” battle that left 18 Americans dead.
Defense Minister Abdulhakim Mohamoud Haji Faqi called on the US to carry out more airstrikes against the Al-Qaeda-linked militants.
Somali officials apparently were not informed about the June 23 operation near the southern coastal town of Kismayo beforehand.
“But we are not complaining about that. Absolutely not.
We welcome it,” Faqi said. “We understand the US need to quickly act on its intelligence on the ground,” he said. “We urge the US to continue its strikes against Al-Shabaab because if it keeps those strikes up, it will be easier for us to defeat Al-Shabaab.” US officials have increased their warnings that the threat from Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group is growing and that militants are developing stronger ties with the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Incoming Pentagon chief Leon Panetta told lawmakers last month that as the core Al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan undergoes leadership changes, with the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the US needs to make sure that the group does not relocate to Somalia.
In 2009, US helicopters swooped over a convoy carrying the Al-Qaeda fugitive Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was killed in the US raid. Elite commandos rappelled to the ground and collected two bodies.
African Union forces — led by troops from Uganda and Burundi — have gained ground in an offensive this year against Al-Shabaab fighters in Mogadishu. The Pentagon is sending nearly $45 million in military equipment, including four small drones, to Uganda and Burundi to help their troops in Mogadishu.
Somalia hasn’t had a functioning government since 1991, a state of chaos that has allowed militancy and piracy to flourish.
