WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. special forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and 10 other terrorists in a remote area of northern Somalia, the Biden administration said on Thursday.
The operation, carried out on Wednesday, targeted Bilal al-Sudani, a major financial broker for a global terrorist organization, at a mountain cave complex.
“This action makes the United States and its partners safer and more secure, and reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting Americans from domestic and international terrorist threats,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. .
President Joe Biden was briefed last week on the proposed mission after months of planning. He gave final approval to conduct the operation this week, based on the recommendations of Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General of the Army. Mark Milley, according to two senior Biden administration officials who briefed reporters on the operation on the condition of anonymity.
Al-Sudani, who has been on the radar for U.S. intelligence officials for years, played a key role in helping to fund IS operations in Africa as well as the ISIS-K terrorist branch operating in Afghanistan, Austin said.
The U.S. Treasury Department alleged last year that al-Sudani had worked closely with another IS operative, Abdella Hussein Abadigga, who had recruited young men in South Africa and sent them to a weapons training camp.
Abadigga, who controlled two mosques in South Africa, used his position to extort money from members of the mosques. Al-Sudani considered Abadigga a trusted supporter who could help the IS supporters in South Africa become better organized and recruit new members, according to Treasury.. Al-Sudani was originally appointed to the Ministry of Finance in 2012 for a role in Al-Shabaab, another terrorist organization operating in Somalia. According to senior government officials, he helped foreign fighters go to al-Shabaab training camps and facilitated funding for violent extremists in Somalia.
Pentagon officials said no civilians were injured or killed in the operation. An American involved in the operation was bitten by a military dog, but was not seriously injured, officials said.
U.S. officials provided scant details about how the operation took place or the circumstances surrounding al-Sudani’s assassination. Officials said US forces had intended to capture al-Sudani, but that proved impracticable as the operation progressed.
The operation comes days after Afrika Command announced it had launched a collective self-defense offensive northeast of the capital Mogadishu near Garqad. The incident saw the Somali National Army embroiled in heavy fighting after a widespread and violent attack by more than 100 al-Shabaab militants.
The US estimates that about 30 al-Shabaab militants were killed in the operation.
The Somali military offensive against al-Shabab is said to be the most significant in more than a decade. Al-Shabab has a much bigger presence in Somalia than IS.
