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WASHINGTON – A CIA officer was killed in combat in Somalia in recent days, US media said Thursday without releasing details on how the agent died.
The veteran officer was a member of the CIA’s Special Activities Center, a paramilitary branch that performs some of the more dangerous tasks of the US intelligence agency, The New York Times She said.
The officer died from injuries sustained during an operation last week, according to CNN.
The CIA has not publicly commented on the death.
Washington has about 700 soldiers deployed in Somalia training Somali forces and conducting counter-terrorism raids against the militant group Al-Shabaab, which Washington designated a terrorist movement in 2008.
Earlier this month, Washington put the leader of an elite unit of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group on its terror blacklist, accused of a January attack in Kenya that killed three Americans.
Al-Shabaab is estimated to have between 5,000 and 9,000 fighters who have vowed to overthrow the Somali government, which is supported by some 20,000 African Union soldiers.
The killed American agent was a veteran of Special Forces operations, having previously been a member of the elite SEAL Team 6, the Times reported.
President Donald Trump’s outgoing administration is considering withdrawing all US forces from Somalia before he leaves office in January, the paper added.
Earlier in his tenure, Trump gave the Pentagon a freer hand to expand its operations, with air strikes and ground forays, in the war-torn African country.
But an official report released in February said that “despite continued US airstrikes in Somalia and US assistance to African partner forces, Al-Shabaab appears to be a growing threat that aspires to target the US homeland.”
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