Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Associate Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.
Violence in Somalia this week killed a U.S. Navy SEAL participating in a counterterrorism operation as well as the youngest member of the president’s Cabinet, who was reportedly shot by bodyguards of the country’s auditor general.
U.S. Africa Command said Friday that the U.S. service member—the first to die in Somalia since 1993—was killed and two others wounded during a raid Thursday targeting the al-Shabab extremist group near the town of Barii, 40 miles west of the capital, Mogadishu. The incident comes as both the U.S. and the government of Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed strive to ramp up offensives against al-Shabab. As the Associated Press notes, “President Donald Trump has approved expanded military operations against the extremist group, including more aggressive airstrikes and considering parts of southern Somalia areas of active hostilities.”