US ‘Lightning Strikes’ Target Terrorists in Africa

Trump authorized commanders to kill al-Shabaab leaders and to train Somali special forces to wipe out terrorist bases.
US ‘Lightning Strikes’ Target Terrorists in Africa
Somali security officers drive past a section of Hotel Hayat, the scene of an al-Shabaab group terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Aug. 20, 2022. Feisal Omar/Reuters
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JOHANNESBURG—The United States military is rapidly scaling up attacks on al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia that’s currently the most powerful terrorist force in Africa, according to American officials and global security analysts.

While airstrikes take out terrorist leaders, a U.S.-trained Somali special forces unit called the Lightning Brigade is destroying jihadist bases across the conflict-ridden Horn of Africa region.