Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa
Operation Enduring Freedom Horn of Africa | |||||
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Part of the 3rd Infantry Regiment (tan) participate in an exercise at Djibouti in June 2004. | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
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Strength | |||||
500 personnel in Somalia Unknown | |||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
United States |
Islamic insurgents:
More than 1,200 captured[12] | ||||
22–37 civilians killed[13] (American operations only) | |||||
Dis: Disbanded *: Former commanders |
Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA) is a component of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).[14] The Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) is the primary (but not sole) military component assigned to accomplish the objectives of the mission. The naval components are the multinational Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) and Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) which operates under the direction of the United States Fifth Fleet. Both of these organizations have been historically part of United States Central Command. In February 2007, United States President George W. Bush announced the establishment of the United States Africa Command which took over all of the area of operations of CJTF-HOA in October 2008.[15]
CJTF-HOA consists of about 2,000 servicemen and women from the United States military and allied countries. The official area of responsibility comprises Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Seychelles and Kenya. Outside this Combined Joint Operating Area, the CJTF-HOA has operations in Mauritius, the Comoros, Liberia, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.[16]
Anti-piracy operations
2005
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2019) |
The United States Coast Guard cutter USCGC Munro, working with the British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible and destroyer HMS Nottingham in the Gulf of Aden, intercepted a hijacked vessel at around noon on 17 March. The interception was ordered after Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT) received telephone reports from the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, concerning the hijacking of the Thai-flagged fishing boat Sirichai Nava 12 by three Somalis on the evening of 16 March, as well as a fax indicating that the hijackers demanded U.S. $800,000 in ransom for the vessel's crew.
Commander, Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 tasked Invincible, Nottingham and Munro to investigate the situation. A
One of the crew members of the Thai vessel had a minor flesh wound, which was treated by the Munro boarding team. The Coast Guardsmen also discovered four automatic weapons in the pilothouse, expended ammunition shells on the deck of the vessel, as well as ammunition on the detained suspects. The three suspects were transferred to Munro.
2006
On 21 January 2006, USS Winston S. Churchill, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, captured a vessel operating off the Somali coast whose crew were suspected of piracy.[17]
On 18 March 2006, USS Cape St. George, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser and USS Gonzalez, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, engaged pirate vessels after receiving fire from them.[18] 12 (including 5 wounded) pirates were captured. The U.S. government chose not to prosecute the captured men for piracy and repatriated them over a period of several months.
2007
On 3 June 2007,
On 28 October 2007, the destroyer USS Porter, opened fire on pirates who had captured a freighter and with other vessels blockaded a port the pirates attempted to take refuge in.
2010
On 30 March 2010, the Seychelles Coast Guard patrol vessel Topaz rescued a captured vessel, saving 27 hostages near Somalia.[20][21]
On 28 November 2010 the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer announced that the United States has no intention of committing troops to Somalia to root out al-Qaeda.[22]
2011
On 20 January, a 14 Royal Malaysian Navy PASKAL assault teams engaging seven Somali pirates on board the Japanese-Malaysian chemical freighter MT Bunga Laurel, about 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) east of Oman, near Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, resulting in 3 pirates wounded, 4 remaining pirates captured, and the freeing of 23 Filipino hostages after gunfighting aboard the vessel.[23][24][25]
In the early morning of 22 January, 15 ROKN UDT/SEAL members boarded the 11,000-ton chemical freighter Samho Jewelry which was taken by 13 pirates six days prior;[26][27] killed 8 pirates and captured 5 without taking any casualties after three hours of intense firefighting. All 21 hostages were secured, with one hostage suffering a non-fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen.
On 12 April, HDMS Esbern Snare intercepted a pirate vessel, capturing 34 pirates and freeing 34 hostages. Later that day, HNLMS Tromp opened fire on another pirate vessel, killing 2 pirates.[28]
A hijacked dhow was hailed by USS Bainbridge on 10 May, after which 7 pirates on board immediately surrendered. The ship's 15 crew members claimed they were hijacked six months prior and their ship was used as a mothership for the pirates.[29]
On 16 May, USS Stephen W. Groves exchanged fire with Jih Chun Tsai 68, a known pirate mothership. When a boarding team arrived, they found 3 pirates dead and captured 2 pirates.[30]
The Danish Navy vessel, HDMS Esbern Snare exchanged fire with a hijacked boat, killing 4 pirates on 17 May. A boarding team subsequently captured 24 injured pirates and freed 16 hostages.[30]
On 11 September, a Spanish Navy patrol boat engaged Somali pirates, freeing a French hostage after sinking the pirate skiff and capturing 7 pirates.[31] The woman was taken hostage after pirates killed her husband and left her catamaran off the coast of Yemen.[31]
On 11 October, Royal Marines embarked on board RFA Fort Victoria freed 23 crew members of a hijacked Italian cargo ship after it had been captured by pirates five days earlier. USS DeWert was the first vessel to arrive on scene after gathering intelligence on the whereabouts of the vessel and deploying counter intelligence surveillance units in the area.[32]
On 3 October, the Tanzania navy freed a hijacked vessel and apprehended seven pirates, They are handed over to civilian police for further action.
On 31 October, the Kenyan military announced that they had captured two pirate skiffs, sunk three, and killed 18 pirates.[33]
2012
Acting on intelligence from other counter-piracy forces, USS Carney boarded the Indian-flagged dhow, Al Qashmi on 6 January. By the time the search team boarded, all evidence of potential piracy had been disposed of, though the crew said they were hijacked by the nine pirates on board from a different vessel. The nine suspected pirates were disarmed and given sufficient fuel and provisions to return to Somalia.[34]
The next day, the Danish warship HDMS Absalon intercepted an Iranian-flagged dhow after identifying it as a potential pirate mother ship. Warning shots had to be fired before a search team boarded. In addition to the crew of 5 Iranian and 9 Pakistani nationals, the team seized 25 pirates. The captured pirates were then taken aboard Absalon to determine whether they should be prosecuted.[34]
A third pirate vessel was intercepted on 13 January. RFA Fort Victoria fired off warning shots to stop the vessel and then launched a boarding party. The pirates surrendered without incident and search uncovered several rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. Royal Marines held the pirates for further investigation.[35]
HDMS Absalon had been observing a pirate mother ship for several days when it attempted to leave the coast of Somalia on 28 February.[36] Danish forces fired on the ship, forcing it to stop.[36] On board were 17 pirates and 18 hostages, though two of the hostages later died from wounds sustained.[36] NATO said that an investigation would be held regarding the hostages' deaths.[36]
Somali civil war
The New York Times declared the
United States anti-terrorist activities in the region have included advisers, supplies, and other forms of non-combat support, but more prominently have included drone strikes targeted at Al-Shabaab.[13] Other American combat operations include manned airstrikes, cruise missile strikes, and special forces raids.
On 1 July 2006, a web-posted message purportedly written by Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to build an Islamic state in the country and warned western states that his al-Qaeda network would fight against them if they intervened there.[39]
On 27 December 2006,
On 2 January 2006, U.S. Marines operating out of
On 17 January 2006, the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense for African affairs,
Alleged operations in Somaliland
On 6 May 2005, a United States Marine Corps unit reportedly landed in Somaliland, the autonomous and self-declared state in northern Somalia. The landings were purportedly conducted to carry out searches, as well as to question locals regarding the whereabouts of terrorist suspects. United States military officials denied the allegations and said operations were not being conducted in Somaliland.[53]
Somali Civil War (2009–present)
Operations against al-Qaeda linked terrorists continued in 2009 when on 14 September several U.S. Navy helicopters launched a
Drone attacks
- On 25 June 2011, U.S. Ibrahim al-Afghani, a senior al Shabaab leader was rumored to be killed in the strike.[69]
- On 6 September 2011, a U.S. drone struck a large Al-Shabaab base, killing 35 militants.[citation needed]
- A drone strike on 17 September killed 17 militants.[citation needed]
- A U.S. drone strike occurred near Mogadishu on 21 January 2012, killing British al-Qaeda operative Bilal el-Berjawi.[70]
- 4 Al-Shabaab fighters, including a white Kenyan and a Moroccan jihadist named Abu Ibrahim, were killed in a drone strike in the K60 area (60 miles south of Mogadishu) of the Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia late on 24 February 2012.[71][72]
Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa
The U.S. Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) was created aboard the U.S. Navy command ship Mount Whitney off Djibouti in late 2002.
In February 2007, United States President George W. Bush announced the establishment of the United States Africa Command which took over all of the area of operations of CJTF-HOA in October 2008.[73][74]
CJTF-HOA consists of about 2,000 servicemen and women from the United States military and allied countries. The official area of responsibility comprises Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Seychelles and Kenya. Outside the Combined Joint Operating Area, CJTF-HOA has operations in Mauritius, Comoros, Liberia, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.[75]
27 U.S. servicemen have been killed in non-hostile incidents in Djibouti since the start of operations in the Horn of Africa.[76][77][78][79][80][81]
Four U.S. soldiers were killed in accidents in Kenya.[82][83]
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a vehicle accident in Ethiopia.[84]
Two U.S. servicemen were killed in the Republic of Seychelles and in the Gulf of Oman, respectively.[85]
See also
- Operation Atalanta
- Manhunt (military)
- Baraawe raid
References
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External links
- Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa Official U.S. Military web site
- USCGC Munro and UK Navy US And UK Navies Resolve Hi-Jacking