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Report: Somali Pirates Team Up with Houthi Terrorists to Attack Key Oil Trade Route

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A report published this week suggests pirates from Somalia are once again threatening commercial shipping in the Red Sea, reportedly working with the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen to menace a trillion-dollar flow of seaborne oil.

“Somali and Houthi-linked groups are teaming up — using skiffs and new tech to strike ships with coordination not seen in a decade — while Saudi crude rerouted from the Strait of Hormuz has created a target-rich environment for them,” RTCOM Defense CEO Ido Shalev told Fox News Digital.

“There is an opportunistic alignment, with the Houthis providing geopolitical cover and advanced GPS and surveillance, and Somali groups providing the boots on the ground or skiffs on the water,” he said.

Shalev said it was a return to the “Somali model” of piracy that grew prevalent in the 1990s after the collapse of Somalia’s central government. The Somalis had two thousand miles of coastline and a huge fleet of small fishing boats, which criminals quickly realized could be employed for swarming attacks against large commercial vessels as depicted in the 2013 film Captain Phillips.

The age of Somali piracy supposedly ended when the government in Mogadishu regained control over the coastline, but two new hijackings over the past ten days have revived the pirate menace, to the great embarrassment of the Somali government. (Read more from “Report: Somali Pirates Team Up with Houthi Terrorists to Attack Key Oil Trade Route” HERE)

Trump Freezes All Immigration From Somalia Amid Massive Fraud Scandal

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The State Department is freezing all immigration from Somalia after an internal investigation found that the “vast majority of Somali migrants take welfare once present in the United States,” the Daily Caller has learned.

The freeze is expected to remain in place while the State Department reassesses immigration processing procedures. The effort is meant to “prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would become a public charge on the American people,” the State Department shared with the Caller.

The State Department will freeze immigration from approximately 75 countries, including Somalia, on Jan. 21.

“Under President Trump, we will not allow aliens to abuse America’s immigration system and exploit the generosity of the American people. For years, foreign nationals from Somalia have entered the United States and extracted wealth from the American taxpayer, including by taking welfare at obscene rates,” Deputy Principal Spokesperson Tommy Pigott told the Caller.

“The Trump administration is exercising the State Department’s long-standing authority to end this abuse of our immigration system,” he added. (Read more from “Trump Freezes All Immigration From Somalia Amid Massive Fraud Scandal” HERE)

Pentagon Increases Airstrikes as Terrorists Pose ‘Direct Threat’ to American Safety

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The U.S. stepped up airstrikes in Somalia in January, targeting al-Shabab and the local affiliate of the Islamic State group, ISIS, according to U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

In a Jan. 12 release, AFRICOM said U.S. forces, working with the Somali federal government, carried out airstrikes against al-Shabab militants.

AFRICOM said the operation was part of ongoing efforts to “degrade the group’s ability to threaten the U.S. homeland, U.S. forces and Americans overseas.”

Airstrikes against ISIS—Somalia were also reported on Jan. 11 and Jan. 9 in northern Somalia, including the Golis Mountains region of Puntland, southeast of Bosaso.

Additional airstrikes targeting al-Shabab were reported on Jan. 8, including one in the vicinity of Buur Heybo, about 154 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu. (Read more from “Pentagon Increases Airstrikes as Terrorists Pose ‘Direct Threat’ to American Safety” HERE)

President Trump Orders Pentagon To Move Majority of U.S. Troops Out of Somalia

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President Donald Trump has ordered a majority of the U.S. military members serving in Somalia to be relocated out of the country, the Pentagon announced Friday.

According to The New York Times, there are roughly 700 American troops currently in Somalia, and the movements are set to occur by Jan. 15.

The Department of Defense explained in a statement that the order does not constitute “a change in U.S. policy,” noting that while “some forces may be reassigned outside of East Africa,” those personnel who remain in the region “will be repositioned from Somalia into neighboring countries in order to allow cross-border operations by both U.S. and partner forces to maintain pressure against violent extremist organizations operating” in the country.

The most notorious terrorist group operating out of Somalia is the Al-Qaida-linked organization Al-Shabaab. (Read more from “President Trump Orders Pentagon To Move Majority of U.S. Troops Out of Somalia” HERE)

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