13 May, 2017
On Saturday, the Pentagon announced the name of the Navy SEAL killed in Somalia as Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, 38, of Falmouth, Maine.
Separately, a Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters regarding Special Operations forces, said that the service member killed was a Navy SEAL.
Captain Jeff Davis of the US Navy said: "This was an operation targeting an al Shabaab group that had been associated with attacks on US, Somali and Amisom (the peacekeeping mission) forces".
The statement says US forces were conducting an advise-and-assist mission with Somalia's military.
Both Somalia and the USA are stepping up efforts against the Somalia-based al-Shabab, which has carried out attacks in other parts of East Africa and continues to target the Somali capital with deadly bombings.
'We grieve his death, but we celebrate his life and many accomplishments.
An AFRICOM spokesperson tells Newsweek that the service member was killed after coming under "small arms fire" and that two other us personnel were wounded in the incident and are receiving medical treatment.
"We do not believe there has been a case where a US service member has been killed in combat action in Somalia since the incident there in 1993", US Africa Command spokesman Patrick Barnes said.
The U.S.is now carrying out an advise and assist mission with Somali forces while continuing a long-standing air campaign to target al-Shabaab.
The mission was not being carried out under the new expanded authorities granted by the Trump administration for the US military to conduct offensive counterterrorism airstrikes in Somalia targeting al-Shabaab, according to the USA official.
U.S. Africa Command has provided intelligence, training and logistical support to the Somali army and to African Union troops battling Shabab since 2013.
"The joint operation, the special operation, has successfully carried out a surgical strike on these two main elements killing numerous terrorists", Elmi said. While the USA military is still analyzing intelligence to find out if the targets of the mission were among the dead, the Somali government declared it a victory.
Senior Al-Shabab commander killed in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region during an operation, Somalia's Minister of Information Abdirahman Omar Osman (Yarisow) said.
Abdirisak Farah, a Somali military officer, said there were casualties on both sides, with six Shabaab fighters killed.
After that tragic incident, USA withdrew from Somalia.
Al-Shabaab is the largest faction working to topple the Somali government, seeking to establish a society based on Islamic law, known as Sharia.
The statement said USA forces were conducting an advise-and-assist mission with Somalia's military.
Milliken was the fourth US service member killed in combat in eight days.
