Somalia: Jihadists attack US Baledogle training base - Happening now, 30th September

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www.bbc.com

Jihadists attack US training base in Somalia

Al-Shabab militants blast through gates and send in fighters before reportedly being pushed back.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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Jihadists have attacked a military base where US soldiers train commandos in Somalia.
Local residents reported heavy blasts and gunfire at Baledogle airport in the southern Lower Shabelle region.
The al-Shabab militant group said it had carried out the attack, using a car bomb to blast through the gates before sending its fighters inside.
Military officials say the jihadists were repulsed without breaching the perimeter fence.
No casualties were reported among the Somali military

In a statement, US Ambassador Donald Yamamoto praised the Somali military for their "alertness and swift response".
"This attack yet again demonstrates al-Shabab violently opposes progress towards peace and prosperity in Somalia," he said.
The US remained committed to building "a stronger and prosperous Somalia that offers a brighter future for its people".
Al-Shabab said in a statement it had launched the raid and that it was ongoing.
"After breaching the perimeters of the heavily fortified base, the mujahideen [holy warriors] stormed the military complex, engaging the crusaders in an intense firefight."
The base, about 100km (60 miles) west of the capital Mogadishu, is said to house US special forces, Somali special forces and Ugandan peacekeepers. It is used as a launch site for US drones as well as being a training centre.
Separately, an Italian military convoy was hit by an explosion in Mogadishu itself, Italy's defence ministry said. No casualties have as yet been reported in this attack.
Control map of Somalia

The US has sharply increased its air strikes against al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, since President Donald Trump took power.
Officials in Somalia say the group has increased its attacks in Mogadishu as retaliation for the air strikes.
BBC Africa editor Mary Harper says the fact that al-Shabab was able to hit two foreign targets on the same day shows it is a co-ordinated force with excellent intelligence.
The US state department says al-Shabab retains control over large parts of the country and has the ability to carry out high-profile attacks using suicide bombers, explosive devices, mortars and small arms.
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archive.fo

Somalia: Jihadists attack US training base at Baledogle - BBC News

archived 30 Sep 2019 14:09:14 UTC
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Edited for update:
US Somali operation shrouded in secrecy
By Mary Harper, BBC World Service Africa editor
The fact that al-Shabab managed to attack two foreign targets in a single day proves its enduring power, 13 years after it came into existence. It shows it is a well-coordinated force, with a sophisticated intelligence network.
The assault on the US military training base at Baledogle airport will be an embarrassment to the Americans, who have stepped up drone attacks on al-Shabab since Donald Trump became president.
The US military is also active on the ground in Somalia, training an elite group of Somali commandos known as The Shield and taking part in special operations, always shrouded in secrecy.
Al-Shabab seems impervious to the multitude of forces ranged against it, from thousands of African Union troops, to Western and other foreign special forces, to a large if fractured Somali army.
The group does far more than stage attacks on its enemies. It imposes fines and taxes, even in government-controlled areas. It provides effective - if brutal - judicial services, which are as popular with those living outside the areas it controls as those inside them.
It is essentially a governing force, and is likely to remain so until the Somali government and its allies form a credible, functioning alternative.
Read more from Mary:Somalia's network of Islamist spies
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I'm going to chalk this one up to "Darwin in Action". I mean as a Terrorist, the absolute best place you can attack would be a heavily fortified anti-terrorist commando training center. Right? There's no way that could possibly be a remarkably bad idea. Well except for the Anti-Terrorist Commando's who you have now saved the trouble of having to travel any distance to hunt your worthless asses down. What part of "lets go after the most hardened military facility in the country, the one sporting US Special Forces on the ground and all the really really good weapons... with our army of kidnapped illiterate 14 year olds!" Bestest Plan Evah!
 
break these cuffs said:
The bongs had to quit their first air campaign in Syria after 2 weeks because they were out of munitions and there wasn't budget to buy more. They eventually came back but I assume the pilots had to run a train on the queen or something for shekels.
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Have you got a source for this 2 weeks thing ? This doesn't sound quite right to me. If you're referring to 2015, our MP's voted for a limited strike against ISIS in Syria & as far as I know, the RAF are still there.

AIRFRAMES AND AIRSTRIKES
Three main types of airframes have been utilised in combat operations against IS targets in Iraq and Syria since December 2015: (a) Reaper MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle; (b) Tornado GR4; (c) Typhoon FGR. Mark 4.
The Typhoon is compatible with a Global Positioning System/laser-guided Enhanced Paveway II and Paveway IV bombs, commonly used in conjunction with a Litening III targeting pod.[5] The Reaper is capable of carrying two 500lb GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The Tornado GR4 usually employs a variety of Paveway bombs, or Storm Shadow cruise missiles, in addition to the Dual-Mode Seeker Brimstone missile.[6]
In 2018, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) made a request to the UK Ministry of Defence for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) asking for the number of (a) Reaper MQ-9; (b) Tornado GR4; (c) Typhoon sorties and associated weapons (type and number) released by airframe type for each calendar month between and including January 2017 and July 2018 inclusive.[7] A total number of 4,692 sorties were made by all 3 airframes over Iraq and Syria over the 19 months in question. While the number of sorties made by Tornados during the period was remarkably similar in Iraq and Syria (861 and 876 respectively), Typhoons and Reapers were noticeably more active in Syria, flying 1652 and 933 sorties respectively, compared to 186 and 184 in Iraq. However, more weapons were released over Iraq than in Syria during the same period, though, in the case of Iraq, most weapons were released during the 2017 campaign.
In terms of missiles launched or bombs dropped by the RAF, 745 were released over Iraq during January 2017 to July 2018. The figure for Syria for the same period was 590. Paveway IV bombs were the most used weapon over Iraq, with Typhoons dropping 262, and Tornados dropping 312. AGM-114 releases from Reaper platforms were relatively low at 44, with 31 one of these dropped in January 2017 alone. In contrast, Reapers released 171 AGM-114s in Syria, with most being released between September 2017 and March 2018 (a 7-month period that overlapped with the ‘fall of Raqqa’[8]). Paveway IV bombs again represented the munition most frequently released by Tornado and Typhoon jets (103 and 272 respectively).
As the Islamic State group has been cleared from more of the territory that it once held, as of January 2019 UK Royal Air Force Eurofighter (RAF) Typhoons on operations are flying fewer planned attack missions, and instead are increasingly being used for ‘armed overwatch’, with a greater emphasis on non-traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and tactical reconnaissance. The aircraft still carry four 500 lb Raytheon Paveway IV bombs and these are employed whenever Islamic State forces are located and identified. However, as IS continues the transition into an insurgency, Typhoon pilots are regularly using the aircraft’s Litening III laser designator pods as an ISR sensor. Dedicated ISR platforms compile an intelligence picture over time to gain an understanding of the normal pattern of life and the Typhoons are used to build on that picture, trying to find specific intelligence on individuals, groups, and networks.[9]
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RAF airstrikes in Iraq and Syria: an assessment | AOAV

Facebook3TweetLinkedInPinEmail Operation ‘SHADER’ is the operational code name given to UK military operations undertaken as part of the US-led global coalition against the so-called Islamic State (IS) or ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL), aka ISIS. Operations began in Iraq on 26...
aoav.org.uk aoav.org.uk
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RodgerDodger said:
I'm going to chalk this one up to "Darwin in Action". I mean as a Terrorist, the absolute best place you can attack would be a heavily fortified anti-terrorist commando training center. Right? There's no way that could possibly be a remarkably bad idea. Well except for the Anti-Terrorist Commando's who you have now saved the trouble of having to travel any distance to hunt your worthless asses down. What part of "lets go after the most hardened military facility in the country, the one sporting US Special Forces on the ground and all the really really good weapons... with our army of kidnapped illiterate 14 year olds!" Bestest Plan Evah!
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I personally think they got their dicks up after they did that hundred man ambush on that SF convoy and then realized too late that cutting dudes in unarmored SUVs down isn't the same as attacking where they live.
Rancid Flid said:
Have you got a source for this 2 weeks thing ? This doesn't sound quite right to me. If you're referring to 2015, our MP's voted for a limited strike against ISIS in Syria & as far as I know, the RAF are still there.
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I tried looking quick and could not find them. It was at the beginning in either late 2015 or early 2016. I was rather invested in what was going on in Syria and followed all sorts of mil/intel related social media, blogs, and news sites. To dial back the hyperbole of my statement, I believe that there were logistical issues at the beginning of the British air campaign and that resulted in some of us involved in communities following the conflict talking a lot of shit.
 
break these cuffs said:
I personally think they got their dicks up after they did that hundred man ambush on that SF convoy and then realized too late that cutting dudes in unarmored SUVs down isn't the same as attacking where they live.

I tried looking quick and could not find them. It was at the beginning in either late 2015 or early 2016. I was rather invested in what was going on in Syria and followed all sorts of mil/intel related social media, blogs, and news sites. To dial back the hyperbole of my statement, I believe that there were logistical issues at the beginning of the British air campaign and that resulted in some of us involved in communities following the conflict talking a lot of shit.
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Fair enough bruh. I took an interest in Syria too & seem to remember that our first bombing missions were quite limited but it was nothing to do with lack of money or bombs & was probably more likely to do with our government just voting for a limited strike over a certain period. We didn't seem to want to commit too much in the early days as our politicians were worried it might turn into another Libya, which it sort of has, we should have stayed out of it & let Assad & the Russians deal with ISIS & the other jihadists, instead we've supported terrorists that our media (UK & US) call "moderate rebels," which has just drawn out the war & cost more lives. But maybe that was the idea ?
 
Rancid Flid said:
Fair enough bruh. I took an interest in Syria too & seem to remember that our first bombing missions were quite limited but it was nothing to do with lack of money or bombs & was probably more likely to do with our government just voting for a limited strike over a certain period. We didn't seem to want to commit too much in the early days as our politicians were worried it might turn into another Libya, which it sort of has, we should have stayed out of it & let Assad & the Russians deal with ISIS & the other jihadists, instead we've supported terrorists that our media (UK & US) call "moderate rebels," which has just drawn out the war & cost more lives. But maybe that was the idea ?
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The whole point of Syria from a the neolib/neocon perspective was to leave it fractured and shitty so it couldn't be a staging ground for Iran against Israel or provide much in the way of support to Hezbollah. And while they got that, they also got a Syria which is 100% in the pocket of Tehran and Moscow as well as a battle hardened Hezbollah. Hezb used to be primarily a light infantry force. They got a boatload of tanks, etc fighting in Syria and I haven't seen anything anywhere about them giving them back. Though to be fair I stopped really following Syria once ISIS was on its last legs and roaches stepped in. Hezbollah humiliated Israel the last time they clashed and they are a much more experienced today with heavy equipment. Also, Assad fucking owes them.

Don't forget that the Coalition did actually destroy ISIS as an effective ground force. They'll be back again in another form in 5 or 10 years, but they were never truly gone. The remnants of AQIZ were just hiding in the desert until the opportunity to fight in Syria came up. Russia and Iran never would still be fighting ISIS today if it weren't for the coalition air campaign. The SAA was losing and Russia wasn't provided much aide before the US led effort which relieved ISIS, as well as some AQ, pressure which Russia and Syria took advantage. The PKK and Iraqi/PMU cleared cities and villages by sifting through bombed out rubble for the most part.
 
Smarty Pants said:
The US is doing what the UK was doing. Fucking colonials thinking they invented the wheel.
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We just did a much better job with said wheel then you did. You could say we optimised the wheel by freeing it from pulling around some inbred fucking monarchy and actually putting it to its intended purpose.
 
If I were POTUS I'd fire a brace of Tomahawks at someone when shit like this happened. I mean look


Even the rocket boosters are vectored. They're like a work of art!
 
break these cuffs said:
Maybe if Eurocucks hadn't dumped your defense budgets into welfare after the Cold War, we wouldn't be the only ones keeping China and Russia in check. You do realize that we're in Africa not because of hadjis, but because China has been making the entire continent into their colony for the last 50 years and we're trying to get the apes to align with the West right?
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Americans are the political equivalent of troons like Yaniv or Tommy Tooter. Absolutely disgusting and filthy but will argue with anyone who doesn't consider you a beautiful princess. You have a disgusting fetish for being fucked in the ass bareback style by Israel, international bankers and oil megacorps, but when someone points out you are filthy faggots you frown and claim no homo. You are the filth of this earth and a source of pestilence. You do realize that if there was any chance that China can take you down anytime soon the entire world would be cheering and learning how to use chopsticks and speak chinese?
 
Oskar Dirlewanger said:
Americans are the political equivalent of troons like Yaniv or Tommy Tooter. Absolutely disgusting and filthy but will argue with anyone who doesn't consider you a beautiful princess. You have a disgusting fetish for being fucked in the ass bareback style by Israel, international bankers and oil megacorps, but when someone points out you are filthy faggots you frown and claim no homo. You are the filth of this earth and a source of pestilence. You do realize that if there was any chance that China can take you down anytime soon the entire world would be cheering and learning how to use chopsticks and speak chinese?
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lol, then fucking do it and get it over with. What's stopping you right now from going full Mao?
 
Smarty Pants said:
The French and British armed forces are doing fine, Greece is also up there. You can leave now if you want.

The US is doing what the UK was doing. Fucking colonials thinking they invented the wheel.
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Invented? Nope. Perfected? Give us half a century and a few colonies on other planets...
Oskar Dirlewanger said:
You do realize that if there was any chance that China can take you down anytime soon the entire world would be cheering and learning how to use chopsticks and speak chinese?
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Wow there's a lot to unpack in that. Anything you wanna talk about buddy?
 
Oskar Dirlewanger said:
Americans are the political equivalent of troons like Yaniv or Tommy Tooter. Absolutely disgusting and filthy but will argue with anyone who doesn't consider you a beautiful princess. You have a disgusting fetish for being fucked in the ass bareback style by Israel, international bankers and oil megacorps, but when someone points out you are filthy faggots you frown and claim no homo. You are the filth of this earth and a source of pestilence. You do realize that if there was any chance that China can take you down anytime soon the entire world would be cheering and learning how to use chopsticks and speak chinese?
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So you will cheer for China taking over the world? speaking of cucks.

Also you're sadly mistaken if you think zionism is only a US problem.
 
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