American forces practice convoy training with the Danab Brigade in Somalia in 2021. U.S. Africa Command said July 6, 2023, that no American troops were killed or injured when a convoy in Somalia hit an improvised explosive device earlier in the day. (Zoe Russell/U.S. Air Force)
No U.S. troops were injured in an attack Thursday on a convoy in Somalia, where American forces have been supporting the central government’s battle against Islamic militants, according to U.S. Africa Command.
Al-Shabab, which has been waging a decadeslong battle for control, claimed on the messaging app Telegram that it had inflicted casualties on U.S. troops on the outskirts of the southern coastal city of Kismayo.
The claims of casualties “are not accurate,” AFRICOM spokesperson Kelly Cahalan said Thursday in a statement.
The convoy hit a roadside bomb Thursday morning near Kismayo, Cahalan said, adding that there also were no casualties among the Somali forces.
Al-Shabab has a long history of baseless claims that it killed or injured U.S. troops. Still, the terrorist organization has occasionally struck U.S. forces and targets in Somalia and nearby areas.
The highest-profile attack happened Jan. 5, 2020, when al-Shabab fighters overran an airfield in Kenya used by U.S. forces for operations in Somalia. The attack killed one U.S. soldier and two American contractors.
A New Jersey Army National Guard soldier stands in the crater created by a truck bomb explosion in 2019 at Baledogle Military Airfield, Somalia. U.S. Africa Command said July 6, 2023, that no U.S. troops were injured in a blast earlier the same day in Somalia, when a convoy hit an improvised explosive device. (London Nagai/U.S. Army)
Just three months earlier, al-Shabab also launched an assault on U.S. troops based at Baledogle Military Airfield in Somalia.
That attack, described by military officials as the largest on American troops in Somalia in 30 years, involved a truck bomb. The explosion blasted a 20-foot-deep crater along the perimeter of a U.S. military outpost.
The ensuing battle resulted in the deaths of about a dozen al-Shabab fighters, as U.S. soldiers repelled the onslaught without any fatalities.
The U.S. military mission in Somalia revolves around training and advising local forces fighting against al-Shabab. Several hundred U.S. troops operate in the country. The U.S. also carries out periodic airstrikes against terrorist targets there.
Within the Defense Department and beyond, there is a running debate about the threat al-Shabab poses to the West and the merits of having the U.S. military involved in Somalia.
In May 2022, the U.S. announced the return of special operations troops to Somalia, reversing a decision by President Donald Trump during the last days of his administration to pull 700 service members out of the country.
