WASHINGTON – Somalia’s al-Shabaab is a heightened terrorist threat because of its collusion with Yemen’s Houthis, the top US general for Africa said Thursday.
The US military began an expanded campaign targeting the terrorist group in Somalia shortly after US President Donald Trump took office.
Last weekend, the US military carried out an airstrike Saturday in Somalia, killing several ISIS operatives, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said.
AFRICOM Commander Gen. Michael Langley said that the US was hitting al-Shabaab “hard.”
“The president and secretary of defense have given me expanded authorities,” Langley told lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing. “I now have the capability to hit them hard,” he said.
The Trump administration has delegated authorities from the president through the secretary of defense down to the operational commander for quicker decision-making. This is in contrast to the Biden administration, which required White House approval before strikes.
In the US campaign to deter Yemen’s Houthis, Joint Staff Director for Operations Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich previously said this “allows us to achieve a tempo of operations where we can react to opportunities that we see on the battlefield in order to continue to put pressure on the Houthis.”
Source: AlArabiya
