We saw the recent raid on a shopping center in Kenya by Somali fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. A couple of days ago we learned of an abortive raid on al-Shabaab by US Navy SEAL operators (who appear to have left behind certain souvenirs of their presence, which al-Shabaab has put on display).
Galrahn at Information Dissemination has prepared a very useful article about the state of affairs in Somalia, and prospects for tackling terrorists there. Here’s an excerpt.
SOCOM is bringing the tactical and operational lessons learned from Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond to Somalia, with step one being grab some bad guys for intelligence purposes. It would be a mistake to call the events of last Friday evening a failure, because failing a primary objective is not the same as a failure. The reaction by al Shabaab since the Friday night raid suggests the impacts have, in fact, been anything but a failure.
In response to the raid by US special forces it is noteworthy al Shabaab Central leadership has been remarkably quiet, despite some in western media describing the US Navy SEAL action as a failure. You would think if they saw the events of Friday night as a victory they would be out shouting as much as loud as possible. Not so, none of the major players are doing any such thing. When US special forces hit the villa with some of al Shabaab’s top people inside, considerable fear and doubt was injected into the organization. The population in Barawe, through Tuesday morning in Somalia, remains in lockdown with a curfew being enforced. Reinforcements have been sent to increase the garrison there. US intelligence was ultimately too good for al Shabaab’s comfort level, and it is a good bet they have spent the last few days turning their own organization inside-out trying to plug security leaks.
Putting doubt into the enemy force is a feature of US special operations.
There’s much more at the link. Highly recommended reading.
Peter
Whoot whoot! Go ghosts!