http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest- ... ror-group-Prime Minister David Cameron, France’s Francois Hollande and President Obama have agreed to support the Somali president with limited military assistance and a Joint Coalition Special Forces Task Force will target the group
" Prime Minister David Cameron, France’s Francois Hollande and President Obama have agreed to support the Somali president with limited military assistance and a Joint Coalition Special Forces Task Force will target the group.“The African Union are doing a good job but they lack combat experience and at present they seem to be in a stalemate with militants and soldiers shooting at each other day after day.
“Pressure needs to be applied so that al-Shabaab’s ability to move across the country at will is restricted and the African Union control the battle space.”
British special forces units are already in Djibouti, north of Somalia, exercising with French and American forces who in the past three years have launched drone attacks into Somalia to eliminate “high value” terrorist targets.
A senior source said there are several options but Our Boys will need to put some time on the ground to get an intelligence picture of current al-Shabaab resources and plan a way forward.
He said: “They are aware of our capability to watch from above and have adapted their tactics, hiding equipment and concealing their key players from our spy-in-the-sky technology.
“The African Union are doing a good job but they lack combat experience and at present they seem to be in a stalemate with militants and soldiers shooting at each other day after day.
“Pressure needs to be applied so that al-Shabaab’s ability to move across the country at will is restricted and the African Union control the battle space.”
British SAS are in Djibouti with French and American soldiers who have launched drone attacks in Somalia over the past three years
Sources indicate the strike inside Somalia will include advisers from the Somali government. It will target al-Shabaab resources and requires an assault force to go in.
The source added: “There are several levels to this. Any action needs to be signed off at the highest level.
“We need to make sure we have a Somali government presence and we need to avoid collateral damage with cruise missiles which can kill innocent civilians.
“That means this is a job for blades, men on the ground.”
The UK currently has a Royal Navy task force in the Red Sea, which is taking part in Exercise Cougar 13 and includes 800 Royal Marine Commandos and two Special Boat Service teams."
