Ilhan Omar Dramatically Attacks Trump: He’s Droning Jihadis ‘to Death’
By Breitbart. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), during a House panel hearing on Thursday, complained that U.S. President Donald Trump has dramatically intensified American airstrikes in her native Somalia that have killed hundreds of members of the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab.
Describing herself as “an African on this committee,” she suggested that the Trump administration should “reassess” the way it deals with al-Shabaab and other jihadis in Somalia. . .
Omar told the Trump administration witnesses invited to testify:
I just wanted to really get into this horrific reign of terror and its spread in Africa, and we oftentimes are really dealing with this issue, and it seems that we are attempting to drone it to death. … In Somalia, particularly in dealing with al-Shabaab, since President Trump has gotten elected, the number of drones have increased, but the number of attacks al-Shabaab has been able to carry out has also tripled. We also know the same to be true for Boko Haram.
On the African continent, the United States military only carries out direct airstrikes in Libya and Somalia. The U.S. does not directly target the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group, but it does support local efforts against the jihadis. (Read more from “Ilhan Omar Dramatically Attacks Trump: Droning Jihadis ‘to Death'” HERE)
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U.S. on Track to Nearly Triple Airstrike Record in Somalia
By Long War Journal. The US military continues to target Shabaab’s conventional forces in Somalia with record fury. In one of its latest airstrike, US Africa Command killed eight Shabaab fighters as the group attacked a combined US and Somali force outside of the Somalia capital on March 11.
The US is now on pace to nearly triple last year’s record number of airstrikes against Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa. Monday’s strike marked the 26th time the AFRICOM has hit Shabaab in the first 10 weeks of 2019 – a staggering increase from the record-high total of 47 strikes in 2018.
The operational tempo against Shabaab has increased dramatically since President Trump took office. In the final year of the Obama Administration, the US launched 15 strikes against Shabaab. In 2017, under Trump, the US hit Shabaab 31 times and the Islamic State another 4 times. (Read more from “US on Track to Nearly Triple Airstrike Record in Somalia” HERE)
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