In a post on X, US President Donald Trump said that he ordered airstrikes on Daesh operatives after these terrorists were found hiding in caves
The United States military conducted airstrikes on Daesh terrorists in Somalia. The airstrikes were conducted in the Golis mountain region following orders from President Donald Trump, leading to the deaths of multiple operatives, according to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegesth.
In a post on X, US President Donald Trump said that he ordered airstrikes on Daesh operatives after these terrorists were found hiding in caves.
“This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior Daesh Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia. These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians,” Trump wrote.
The US President also criticised former President Joe Biden for not acting quickly against Daesh terrorists.
“Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did! The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that We WILL FIND You, AND We WILL KILL YOU,” he added.
US Secretary of Defence Hegesth said that these US strikes degrade “ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians and sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies, even as we conduct robust border-protection and many other operations under President Trump’s leadership.”
According to The Hill, Trump has warned terrorist groups like Daesh in the past. On the other hand, he had also suggested that the US should take a step back from Syria following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“We’re not involved in Syria. Syria’s its own mess. They’ve got enough messes over there. They don’t need us involved in everyone,” Trump had told reporters on Thursday.
71,000 deaths related to Somalia’s 2022 drought
An estimated 71,000 people may have died between January 2022 and June 2024 due to the devastating drought that affected large parts of Somalia in 2022, according to a report released Wednesday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
The report, launched by Somalia’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), revealed that about 40 per cent of these “excess” deaths were children under the age of five.
The study, titled “From Insight to Action: An Update on Mortality Patterns in Somalia,” noted that most of the excess deaths occurred in the south-central regions of the country, while the northeast regions experienced relatively low mortality despite high food insecurity.
This report offers a comprehensive analysis of the impact of droughts on population mortality over a 30-month period, which includes the 2022 drought that affected 7.9 million people, nearly half of Somalia’s population, and brought the nation to the brink of famine.
UNICEF Representative in Somalia Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef emphasised the severe and lasting impact of climate change on vulnerable Somali families.
“Given the recurring nature of climate-induced crises, we must also scale up investments in community resilience to future shocks, anticipatory action, and prevention of disease outbreaks,” Saeed said.
She said as resources to address humanitarian needs have become more limited, both the government and its partners must continue to explore innovative ways to expand access to life-saving services such as health, nutrition, water, and sanitation, Xinhua news agency reported.
Minister of Health and Human Services of Somalia Ali Hadji Adam Abubakar said that the ministry focuses on building a robust health system as the foundation for a healthy and thriving Somali society. “At the heart of this approach is delivering health and nutrition services in an integrated manner, at the lowest unit of the health delivery chain, and in a way that gives priority to vulnerable children and women,” Adam said.
WHO Representative in Somalia Reinhilde Van de Weerdt said the deaths of more than 70,000 people, mostly children, are a stark reminder of the urgent need for continued support and resilience-building efforts.
“This also underlines the critical importance of strengthening Somalia’s health emergency prevention, preparedness, readiness, and resilience system to effectively respond to emergencies and provide sustained care for people in need,” she said.
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