On Thursday evening, US officials said that the US military carried out an operation that resulted in the killing of a senior ISIS leader in northern Somalia.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Bilal al-Sudani, one of the group's leaders in Somalia, was killed in the operation along with about 10 others from the group.
They added that the operation was approved by President Joe Biden earlier this week, carried out in the last 24 hours, and was the result of exceptional coordination for several months.
The officials declined to go into basic details of the operation. They also declined to say whether there was any direct threat to the United States like al-Sudani, or details about whether any intelligence was collected, how American forces carried out the operation or even how many American soldiers were involved.
The officials said that the leader of ISIS, Bilal al-Sudani, was expanding the organization's activities in all African countries.
The officials made it clear that it was not possible to arrest Al-Sudani, although this is our most appropriate approach, noting that they informed the Somali government of the military operation against ISIS to protect its citizens and ours.
The officials also confirmed that no injuries were recorded among US soldiers during the military operation in northern Somalia.