WASHINGTON, DC — 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.
Her comments came during a hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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.
Far Worse Than Previously Reported: Big Tech’s Ticking Time Bomb Is a Massive Financial Exposure Tied to AI
Second Amendment Declared ‘Extinct’ in SCOTUS Brief Over Gun Ban
Democratic senator-elect calls Trump ‘unserious fool’ while defending combative political style
GOP eyes Senate comeback after Democratic bloodbath, but another political nightmare could await
Democrats set sights on Elon Musk probe after midterm wins, but Pritzker draws a surprising line
DeSantis blasts Washington Post over report he’s preparing 2028 presidential bid
Denver man found dead at bottom of national park canyon beneath steep drop-offs
US offers $20 million reward for information on Iran’s nuclear program
Trump highlights NASA nuclear-powered Mars spacecraft mission planned for 2028
SPLC was once suspected of more crimes than current charges show
Armed Illegal, Freed in Biden Era, Detained at White House
Meghan Markle’s Father Could Die in Prison If He’s Convicted on Child Porn Charges
NYC Woman Literally Vomits After Learning Slap on Wrist Given to Man Who Stabbed Her 22 Times in Front of Her Daughter, 3
Three States Carry Out Executions on the Same Day in Rare Occurrence
Newly Elected Congressional Democrat Due to Face Felony Charge in Court
“There is sort of a direct correlation between our droning, and the increase of their [jihadis] assaults. And their recruitment seems to increase because of some of the civilian casualties that take place,” Omar stressed.
Breitbart News was unable to verify Omar’s assertion that the U.S. air campaign has led to an increase in terrorist attacks and recruitment.
Citing Pentagon data, the Long War Journal reported in March that U.S. airstrikes against al-Shabaab, not attacks by the group as Omar indicated, are “on pace to nearly triple last year’s record number of airstrikes” dropped on the group.
Michelle Lenihan, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for African Affairs at the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) who testified during the hearing, told Omar that drone strikes are just a “minor component” of America’s approach to bringing stability to Somalia.
In November 2018, the Mogadishu-based Hiraal Institute argued that the increase in U.S. airstrikes forced al-Shabaab to change its tactics and resulted in “fewer” attacks in Somalia.
Far Worse Than Previously Reported: Big Tech’s Ticking Time Bomb Is a Massive Financial Exposure Tied to AI
Second Amendment Declared ‘Extinct’ in SCOTUS Brief Over Gun Ban
Democratic senator-elect calls Trump ‘unserious fool’ while defending combative political style
GOP eyes Senate comeback after Democratic bloodbath, but another political nightmare could await
Democrats set sights on Elon Musk probe after midterm wins, but Pritzker draws a surprising line
DeSantis blasts Washington Post over report he’s preparing 2028 presidential bid
Denver man found dead at bottom of national park canyon beneath steep drop-offs
US offers $20 million reward for information on Iran’s nuclear program
Trump highlights NASA nuclear-powered Mars spacecraft mission planned for 2028
SPLC was once suspected of more crimes than current charges show
Armed Illegal, Freed in Biden Era, Detained at White House
Meghan Markle’s Father Could Die in Prison If He’s Convicted on Child Porn Charges
NYC Woman Literally Vomits After Learning Slap on Wrist Given to Man Who Stabbed Her 22 Times in Front of Her Daughter, 3
Three States Carry Out Executions on the Same Day in Rare Occurrence
Newly Elected Congressional Democrat Due to Face Felony Charge in Court
At the time, the Institute did acknowledge that the terrorist group was adapting to the “increasingly lethal air campaign.”
Residents of the Somali capital of Mogadishu did experience a wave of deadly suicide and car bomb attacks at the hands of al-Shabaab in March.
Omar claimed that comments attributed to Trump by Democrat anonymous sources and rebuked by the president make it difficult for African countries to partner with the United States.
Omar proclaimed:
All of you talked about the partnership that needs to happen in order for us to have greater influence in Africa, and I would be remiss if I didn’t say that, as an African on this committee, when you have a president who uses language like ‘shit hole countries,’ it makes it really hard for people in Africa to sort of think of themselves as being partners with the United States, and so I hope that we are in the business of developing better relations.
Omar is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia who entered the United States as a refugee.
Marking a significant departure from the previous administration, Trump has intensified the U.S. military’s air campaign against al-Shabaab, killing at least 200 jihadis this year alone.
Far Worse Than Previously Reported: Big Tech’s Ticking Time Bomb Is a Massive Financial Exposure Tied to AI
Second Amendment Declared ‘Extinct’ in SCOTUS Brief Over Gun Ban
Democratic senator-elect calls Trump ‘unserious fool’ while defending combative political style
GOP eyes Senate comeback after Democratic bloodbath, but another political nightmare could await
Democrats set sights on Elon Musk probe after midterm wins, but Pritzker draws a surprising line
DeSantis blasts Washington Post over report he’s preparing 2028 presidential bid
Denver man found dead at bottom of national park canyon beneath steep drop-offs
US offers $20 million reward for information on Iran’s nuclear program
Trump highlights NASA nuclear-powered Mars spacecraft mission planned for 2028
SPLC was once suspected of more crimes than current charges show
Armed Illegal, Freed in Biden Era, Detained at White House
Meghan Markle’s Father Could Die in Prison If He’s Convicted on Child Porn Charges
NYC Woman Literally Vomits After Learning Slap on Wrist Given to Man Who Stabbed Her 22 Times in Front of Her Daughter, 3
Three States Carry Out Executions on the Same Day in Rare Occurrence
Newly Elected Congressional Democrat Due to Face Felony Charge in Court
Last year, U.S. airstrikes in Somalia resulted in the “third record high” annual death toll (326) of al-Shabaab jihadis, the New York Times learned from the Pentagon. This year, al-Shabaab fatalities are on track to eclipse those from 2018.
Soon after taking office, Trump issued an executive order to escalate U.S. efforts against al-Shabaab, a move that ended former President Barack Obama-era restrictions.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) welcomed the move.
During the hearing on Thursday, Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) pointed out:
The U.S. has dramatically increased airstrikes to counter al-Shabaab in Somalia since April of 2017. We carried out more airstrikes in Somalia in the last nine months of 2017 than in the five years from 2012 to 2016. Then there were 47 in 2018 and almost 30 just in the first quarter of 2019.
Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadis have established a growing presence in Somalia, but its rival al-Shabaab remains the most potent group in the region.
Late last year, the Institute for Economics and Peace’s (IEP) Global Terrorism Index (GTI) revealed that Africa is home to half of the top ten countries with the highest increase in the number of terror-linked fatalities from 2016 to 2017 — Somalia, Egypt, Central African Republic, Mali, and Kenya.
“The country with the largest total increase in terrorism compared to the prior year was Somalia where the number of deaths rose by 708, a 93 percent increase,” the GTI revealed.
“Since al-Shabaab’s first external attack in 2010, the group has killed hundreds through external operations, with the most lethal attacks occurring in Kenya and Uganda,” Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, one of the top commanders in Africa, told lawmakers earlier this year.
Story cited here.
