The two dozen SEAL Team 6 members who killed ISIS leader Bilal al-Sudani last month conducted their raid in a manner similar to the commandos that conducted the successful 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.
The details of the raid that killed al-Sudani, who was responsible for the 2021 Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 US troops, were first revealed in a New York Times report. The raid was approved by President Joe Biden.
According to the report, SEAL Team 6 members rehearsed the raid extensively before boarding Army MH-47 Chinook helicopters operated by a team called Night Stalkers to an unobtrusive U.S. Navy vessel. which rested off the coast of northern Somalia.
From there, the team landed “some distance” from al-Sudani’s cavernous layer in an area called Puntland to avoid receiving warnings. The group then attacked ISIS fighters in the region, killing ten, not including al-Sudani. The firefight lasted an hour.
Al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab has a much larger presence in Somalia than ISIS. There are said to be fewer than 300 members of the Islamic State in the troubled East African country
After the raid, the commandos secured a “trove of materials,” including laptops and cellphones, that could be linked to future ISIS operations.
Al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab has a much larger presence in Somalia than ISIS. There are said to be fewer than 300 members of the Islamic State in the troubled East African country.
No civilians were injured or killed in the operation, according to Pentagon officials. An American involved in the operation was bitten by a military dog but not seriously injured.
The Times report states that it was not until US intelligence officials learned of al-Sudani’s role in the Kabul bombing and his fundraising activities for ISIS in Europe, Asia and Africa that he was promoted to head the catch-or-. .. 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 elements of ISIS-K responsible for Abbey Gate.” ISIS-K, the group’s arm in Afghanistan.
Al-Sudani was originally appointed to the Treasury Department in 2012 for his role in al-Shabab, another terrorist organization operating in Somalia. According to a senior administration official, he helped foreign fighters travel to an al-Shabab training camp and facilitated funding for violent extremists in Somalia.
In addition to the bin Laden raid, the operation that killed al-Sudani was also similar to the May 2015 killing of Abu Sayyaf, ISIS’ “emir of oil and gas.”
Following Sudani’s death, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, “This action keeps the United States and our partners safer and more secure and reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism at home and abroad.”
A Taliban fighter guards the site of two August 26 suicide bombings that killed scores, including 13 US soldiers
Biden was briefed a week before the raid, which came about after months of planning
Biden was briefed a week before the raid, which came about after months of planning.
The President gave final approval to conduct the operation this week on the recommendation of Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley.
The US Treasury Department claimed last year that al-Sudani worked closely with another IS agent, Abdella Hussein Abadigga, who had recruited young men in South Africa and sent them to a weapons training camp.
Abadigga, who controlled two mosques in South Africa, used his position to extort money from members of the mosques.
Al-Sudani viewed Abadigga as a trusted supporter who could help IS supporters in South Africa better organize and recruit new members.
Few details about the raid were known prior to the Times report, but an official said at the time that the forces behind the operation had determined that capturing al-Sudani was “feasible”.
The operation came days after Africa Command said it had launched a collective self-defense strike northeast of Mogadishu, the capital, near Galcad.
In that incident, Somalia National Army forces were engaged in heavy fighting after a widespread and intense attack by more than 100 Al-Shabab militants.
The US estimated that about 30 al-Shabab militants were killed in this operation.
The Somali armed forces’ offensive against al-Shabab has been described as the most significant in more than a decade.