There are more than 5,000 military personnel under the US Africa military command on the continent, with most based in a single major base in Djibouti on the Red Sea.īetween 650 and 800 troops are operating in Somalia, according to the most recent figures. Those deaths – the worst encounter for US troops in Africa for more than 20 years – prompted a fierce debate over US military involvement on the continent, and the international threat posed by extremists there. The US has sustained relatively few casualties in ongoing military operations targeting Islamist extremists in recent years but in one bloody incident in 2017, four US soldiers died when they were ambushed in Niger. The CIA declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian. CIA officers sometimes accompany military units during counter-terrorism raids to help identify targets or gather intelligence. The identity of the CIA officer is not known, but the New York Times reported that he was a member of the CIA’s paramilitary division, the Special Activities Center, and a former Navy Seal. A number of officers were killed including the CIA officer,” Abu Mohamed, an al-Shabaab commander in Lower Shabelle, told the Guardian. We were ready and a fierce gun battle broke out. We had received intelligence that they were coming. “American soldiers accompanied by Somali forces raided an al-Shabaab base in Gendershe. We did not get them,” a second Somali officer said.Īl-Shabaab sources confirmed the clash, and claimed they had ambushed the US and Somali forces after learning of the operation in advance. After a 40-minute firefight, the US and Somali forces withdrew. Lexie West/APīut the Gendershe raid was a failure. The base was attacked by al-Shabaab in January this year, killing a US soldier and two American contractors. US service personnel at Camp Simba in Kenya in 2019.
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