The U.S. military used the expanded authority President Donald Trump granted to the Pentagon in March to strike a terrorist outpost in Somalia on Sunday, officials said.
Together with Somali partners, the Pentagon used a drone to target a command and control and logistics hub 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu — the nation’s capital — to kill multiple fighters with al-Shabab, a terrorist organization aligned with al-Qaeda, according to the Pentagon.
The outpost was described by a military official as a mid-level operation, not a high value target.
According to Pentagon Chief Spokeswoman Dana W. White, the bombing was in response to al-Shabab’s recent attacks on the Somali military and used the new authority the Department of Defense received from Trump.
“This strike was conducted with the authorities approved by the President in March 2017, which allows the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct legal action against [al-Shabab] within a geographically-defined area of active hostilities in support of partner force in Somalia,” White said in a statement.
According to the Associated Press, al-Shabab killed 59 people in the semi-autonomous Somali state of Puntland when they bombed a military base on Thursday.
The terrorist organization once controlled the capital Mogadishu, but was pushed out in 2011. It has retained control of territory in the south and center areas of the country.
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