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US President Donald Trump Direct Airstrikes On ISIS In Somalia—-Pete Hegseth, The US secretary of defense, indicated multiple jihadists were killed and no civilians were harmed

The strikes were carried out against IS-Somalia in the Golis Mountains, in Somalia’s semi-autonomous northern Puntland region. In 2015, IS-Somalia splintered from al-Shabaab, a much larger and more widely known jihadist organisation affiliated with al-Qaida, which controls parts of southern Somalia.

Trump said on Saturday that he ordered strikes on a senior IS attack planner and others from the organisation.

The president wrote in a post on Truth Social: “These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies.

“Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did!

“The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that ‘WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!’”

Trump did not identify the IS figure or state whether they were killed in the attack. The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, added that an initial assessment indicated multiple operatives were killed. He said no civilians were harmed.

“[It] sends a clear signal that the United States always stands ready to find and eliminate terrorists who threaten the United States and our allies, even as we conduct robust border protection and many other operations under President Trump’s leadership,” he said.

Somali American Democratic representative Ilhan Omar, commended the strike, saying: “It’s my sincere hope that Isis and Alshabab will be defeated and the people of Somalia will see an end to terrorism.”

Estimates for the total number of active members in IS-Somalia have varied widely, but UN, US and Somali government officials believe it has about 300 to 700 members, approximately half of whom are believed to be foreign fighters who have entered Somalia.

The Puntland regional government has been involved in its own month-long operation against IS-Somalia following a deadly attack it carried out against Puntland’s security forces in December.

A Puntland official said its forces “had been involved in a low intensity conflict with the group for almost a decade and have cleared more than 200km of territory of their presence since this operation began”.

In a post on social media, Puntland thanked the US and the United Arab Emirates for their support.

The Somali president’s office said that Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was informed about the US military action targeting senior IS leadership in northern parts of the country.

“He acknowledges the unwavering support of the United States in the fight against international terrorism and welcomes the continued commitment under the decisive leadership of president Donald Trump,” the office said in a post on X.

The strikes took place a day after the Somali president made an appeal to Trump in an interview with the Washington Post “not to pull out the American advisers and consultants who are supporting the training of our special forces”.

Trump has opposed the deployment of US troops in faraway conflicts and withdrew soldiers from the country in 2020, relying primarily on airstrikes to degrade jihadist organisations operating in Somalia. He has ordered more airstrikes in the country than any other US president.

A strike, which also targeted IS militants, was carried out in coordination with Somalia last year and killed three members of the group, the US military said.

After the strikes US officials briefed media saying that they targeted Abdulqadir Mumin, who they said quietly became IS’s global leader, but experts have expressed doubt that he held such a senior role.

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Nigerian Singer Tems Acquires Stake In American Football Club San Diego FC

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Tems Acquires Stake In American Football Club San Diego FC

Nigerian Singer Tems Acquires Stake In American Football Club San Diego FC—-San Diego FC (SDFC) has announced that Tems, the globally acclaimed, two-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist and Oscar-nominated singer, songwriter, and producer, has joined the club’s ownership group through her company, The Leading Vibe.

SDFC CEO Tom Penn expressed excitement about Tems joining, highlighting her influence as a cultural icon and her dedication to empowering young talent. “Her passion for creativity and community aligns perfectly with our mission,” Penn stated.

She joins a prestigious group of Club Partners, including Issa Rae, Juan Mata, Jocko Willink, and Manny Machado.

Her involvement is in collaboration with Pave Investments, an African private investment firm. Pave’s Chairman Tunde Folawiyo and Founding Director Kwamena Afful will also join the ownership group, further strengthening SDFC’s mission to inspire and empower communities through sport, culture, and opportunity.

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Car Ramming in Munich Injures 28 at Demonstration

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Car Ramming in Munich Injures 28

Police say the suspect is a 24-year-old Afghanistan national who has been apprehended at the scene of the incident, which the authorities believe was intentional.

28 people are reported to have been injured in Munich after a car ram into a crowd of demonstrators near the city’s centre, police said.

The authorities identified the suspect as a 24-year-old Afghanistan-born man currently in Germany as an asylum seeker, was arrested on-site and posed no further danger.

Bavaria’s Minister President Markus Söder said the incident was “presumably an attack”. Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter said that “many people have been injured, including children.”

Söder, the leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), said in the aftermath of the attacks that the incident shows that “something has to change in Germany and quickly”.

“We cannot go from attack to attack and show concern, but we must actually change something,” he added.
 Local media, citing authorities, said that an extremist motivation could not be ruled out.

A police spokesperson said that the car approached a demonstration organised by Verdi, one of Germany’s largest trade unions, from behind, before overtaking a police vehicle and deliberately ploughing into the crowd.

Officers fired at the vehicle before the suspect was detained.

Police said they believed the suspect acted alone. He was previously known to the police for drug and theft incidents.

The injured are currently being treated in several hospitals in the city. However, Munich’s second mayor, Dominik Krause, confirmed that employees of city administration were among those injured.

Many of the demonstration participants brought their children to the event, Krause said.

No further information about possible deaths has been released at this time.

Deep shock over ‘senseless’ act

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks in which the suspect was an asylum seeker, including one three weeks ago in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg in which a man and a two-year-old boy were killed.

Söder’s party, the sister party of the CDU who are predicted to win Germany’s upcoming elections, has pushed for tougher immigration and asylum policies in the wake of such attacks.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a crackdown in response to the incident, saying that the perpetrator must “leave the country.” Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner in Germany’s election and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said, “Everyone must feel safe again in our country. Something had to change in Germany.”

Other German politicians reacted to the incident, with Greens chancellor candidate Robert Habeck calling the act of violence “senseless.”

“It is important that the background to the attack is now quickly clarified,” Habeck said.

Alice Weidel, the co-leader of the far-right AfD, which is currently second in the polls, called for a “turning point” in migration and asylum policy.

Verdi’s branch in Munich said it was “deeply shocked” by the incident, with chairman Frank Werneke calling it a “difficult moment for all colleagues.”

The Bavarian Municipal Employers’ Association said that the right to strike is essential to society and that it stood with the trade union in such moments.

The Bavarian city is set to host scores of world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Vice President JD Vance, for the Munich Security Conference from Friday to Sunday.

Authorities confirmed there is no known link between the incidents.

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