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The two dozen members of SEAL Team 6 who killed ISIS leader Bilal al-Sudani last month practiced their raid in a similar way to the commandos who carried out the successful raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in 2011.
Details of the operation raid that killed al-Sudani, responsible for the 2021 Kabul airport bombing that claimed the lives of 13 US soldiers, were first revealed in a report from The New York Times. The raid was approved by President Joe Biden.
According to the report, members of SEAL Team 6 extensively rehearsed the raid before heading aboard Army MH-47 Chinook helicopters, which are operated by a team known as Night Stalkers, to an unnamed US Navy ship. .coast of northern Somalia.
From there, the team landed ‘some distance’ from al-Sudani’s cavernous layer in an area known as Puntland so as not to issue warnings. The group then engaged ISIS fighters in the region, killing ten, not including al-Sudani. The shooting lasted an hour.
The al-Qaeda offshoot, al-Shabab, has a much bigger footprint in Somalia than ISIS. There are believed to be fewer than 300 Islamic State members in the troubled East African country.
After the raid, commandos recovered a “hoard of material” including laptops and cellphones that could be linked to future ISIS operations.
The al-Qaeda offshoot, al-Shabab, has a much bigger footprint in Somalia than ISIS. There are believed to be fewer than 300 Islamic State members in the troubled East African country.
No civilians were injured or killed in the operation, Pentagon officials said. An American involved in the operation was bitten by a military dog but was not seriously injured.
The Times report details that only when US intelligence figures learned of al-Sudani’s role in the Kabul bombing, as well as his activities in raising funds for ISIS in Europe, Asia and Africa, did they he became the leader of the capture or capture strategy. kill list.
Referring to the Kabul airport bombing, a US official told the Times: “Al-Sudani helped put money in the pockets of the same ISIS-K elements responsible for Abbey Gate.” That attack was carried out by ISIS-K, the group’s arm in Afghanistan.
Al-Sudani had originally been designated a Treasury Department in 2012 for his role with al-Shabab, another terrorist organization operating in Somalia. He helped foreign fighters travel to an al-Shabab training camp and facilitated funding for violent extremists in Somalia, according to a senior administration official.
In addition to the bin Laden raid, the operation that killed al-Sudani was also similar to the May 2015 assassination of ISIS ‘oil and gas emir’ Abu Sayyaf.
Following Sudani’s death, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “This action leaves the United States and its partners safer and more secure, and reflects our steadfast commitment to protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism at home and abroad”.
A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of the twin suicide bombings on August 26, which killed dozens of people, including 13 US soldiers.
Biden was informed a week before the raid was carried out after months of planning.
Biden was informed a week before the raid was carried out after months of planning.
The president gave his final approval to carry out the operation this week on the recommendation of Austin and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley.
The US Treasury Department alleged last year that al-Sudani had worked closely with another Islamic State operative, Abdella Hussein Abadigga, who had recruited young men in South Africa and sent them to a training camp for weapons.
Abadigga, who controlled two mosques in South Africa, used his position to extort money from members of the mosques.
Al-Sudani considered Abadigga a trusted supporter who could help IS supporters in South Africa better organize and recruit new members.
Few details about the raid were known before the Times report, an official saying at the time that the forces behind the operation had determined it was “feasible” to capture al-Sudani.
The operation came days after Africa Command said it had carried out a collective self-defense attack northeast of the capital Mogadishu near Galcad.
In that incident, Somali National Army forces engaged in heavy fighting following a prolonged and intense attack by more than 100 al-Shabab fighters.
The United States estimated that approximately 30 al-Shabab fighters were killed in that operation.
The offensive by Somali forces against al-Shabab has been described as the most significant in more than a decade.