WASHINGTON — The US military eliminated “a number of ISIS members” — including one of the terrorist group’s top operatives — in a Wednesday strike in northern Somalia, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
ISIS leader Bilal al-Sudani, who was a “key facilitator for ISIS’s global network,” was among the multiple terrorists killed in the “assault operation” ordered by President Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
“[A]l-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan,” he said. “This action leaves the United States and its partners safer and more secure.”
The “precision operation” took place in a mountainous cave complex in northern Somalia and planning for the assault took “many months,” according to senior administration officials.
“Once planning reached a critical stage last week, the Department of Defense briefed the operation to the President,” a senior administration official told reporters Thursday. “He authorized it earlier this week after further consultation, including ensuring that key questions that he had about the risk to our forces and the impact of the operation on potential civilians in the area had been answered to his satisfaction.”
“In addition to Sudani, the operation killed approximately 10 of Sudani’s ISIS associates,” the official added. “We had prepared for the possibility of capturing Sudani, but the hostile forces’ response to the operation resulted in his death.”
No civilians or American troops were significantly harmed during the operation.
One service member suffered a dog bite “by one of our own canines” during the operation, according to a senior administration official.
Austin credited “our extraordinary service members as well as our intelligence community and other interagency partners” with bringing about the “successful counterterrorism operation.”
While the US military frequently focuses on Somalia’s al-Shabaab fighters, it has rarely targeted ISIS members in the country. Most of the US strikes on ISIS last year occurred in Syria.