US military member killed by al-Shabab in Somalia raid

US serviceman dies during operation near Barii, about 64km west of the capital, Mogadishu, says US Africa Command.

The US military said on Friday that a US military 
member was killed in Somalia during an operation
 against the armed group al-Shabab.

A statement from the US Africa Command said the
 military member was killed on Thursday during an 
operation near Barii, about 64km west of the capital, Mogadishu. The statement said US forces were conducting
 an "advise-and- assist" mission with Somalia's military.

A spokesman for al-Shabab, which is fighting to 
overthrow Somalia's western-backed government, said 
that its fighters had killed "several" US soldiers.

"[The US soldiers] came in helicopters. Our Mujahideen
fighters responded to the attack," al-Shabab's military
operations spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Mus'ab told ERICGOSSIP.

"We killed several American fighters. We also wounded 
many.

We captured weapons from them too. They ran back to
 their helicopters."

In the past, al-Shabab has exaggerated the number of
soldiers it has killed during clashes.

A Somali intelligence official confirmed the US military
operation, saying US forces in helicopters raided an 
al-Shabab hideout near the Somali capital on Thursday
 night and engaged with fighters.

The official, who spoke to the Associated Press news
agency on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorised to speak to the media, said the helicopters
dropped soldiers near Dare Salaam village in an attempt
 to capture or kill fighters in the area.

The official said the fighters mounted a stiff resistance
against the soldiers.

According to the US army, the fatality appears to be the
 first death of a US serviceman in combat in Somalia in more than two decades.

US Africa Command spokesman Patrick Barnes said that 
"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," according to AP.

The US pulled out of Somalia after 1993, following the
 "Black Hawk Down" incident, when two helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu and bodies of Americans were dragged through the streets.


Military operations

Both the US and Somalia in recent weeks have 
declared new efforts against al-Shabab.

Somalia's new president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
 last month declared a new offensive against al-Shabab, 
which is based in Somalia but has claimed responsibility
 for major attacks elsewhere in East Africa - including in neighbouring Kenya.

US President Donald Trump has approved expanded 
military operations against al-Shabab, including more aggressive air raids and considering parts of southern Somalia areas of active hostilities.

Also last month, the US military announced it was 
sending dozens of regular troops to Somalia in the largest such deployment to the country in roughly two decades. 
The US Africa Command said the deployment was for logistics training of Somalia's army.

The US in recent years has sent a small number of 
special operations forces and counter-terror advisers to Somalia and has carried out a number of air strikes, 
including drone strikes, against al-Shabab.