Vol. 76/No. 6      February 13, 2012

The Jan. 25 raid freed two hostages who were being held for ransom by an alleged pirate gang near the city of Galkayo in central Somalia. According to the New York Times, about two dozen Navy SEALs and other troops parachuted into the area at night, killed nine Somalis and left by helicopter with the hostages, who had been working for the Danish Demining Group when they were kidnapped in October.

Although initial press reports spoke of a “shoot-out” or “gun battle,” the U.S. Africa Command simply reported that “all nine captors were killed during the assault.” No U.S. troops were injured in the operation.

“Pentagon officials defended the decision to kill the hostage takers,” the Los Angeles Times reported Jan. 25, “arguing that they were armed and that explosives were found at the camp. The SEALs could have taken prisoners, but they were operating under rules of engagement that permitted use of deadly force.”

The commando team included members of the same Navy unit that the Obama administration used to execute al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last May.

The raid occurred as President Barack Obama was preparing to deliver his State of the Union speech to Congress. As he entered the House of Representatives, he congratulated Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, saying, “Good job tonight.” In a statement the next day, Obama said, “I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission.”

This was the first publicly reported extended ground raid by U.S. forces in Somalia since 1993. Washington has been stepping up its military involvement in Somalia, including conducting airstrikes on the Islamist group al-Shabab, increasing CIA activity, and supporting an African Union occupation force operating around the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The operation was carried out from a U.S. military base in neighboring Djibouti, which has been increasingly used to launch aerial assassination drones against targets in Somalia and Yemen in recent months. Along with air bases in Ethiopia and the Seychelles Islands, the Djibouti installation is part of Washington’s military posture aimed at strengthening its foothold in Africa with an “economy of force.”  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home