Foreign Digest: Somalia, Iran, Philippines, China. Italy and Niger

Somalia: The United States conducted a raid in northern Somalia a few days ago that killed the leader of the Islamic State for eastern and southern Africa and other Islamist terrorists. The terrorist leader, who was skilled at fundraising, provided money to the Islamic State in the Middle East. The terrorist organization is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the deadliest in world history, among many other attacks. Starting in the 2010s, the U.S. led an international coalition of Western and Arab allies to retake the territory the Islamic State seized in western Syria and northern Iraq, where it had set up a quasi-state and declared a caliphate, which succeeded in wresting control of all the lands the terrorist organization had seized and in killing its leader. The main terrorist threat to Somalia remains al-Shabab, which is al-Qaeda’s most powerful affiliate, and is based in central and southern Somalia. The U.S. and other allies have been aiding the Somali Government against the Islamist terrorists. Iran: Israel struck an Iranian munitions facility last week that is associated with Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism and spreads Islamist revolution throughout the Islamic world. Israel has also been striking Iranian forces and Iranian-backed terrorists that threaten the Jewish State in Syria, as I have been posting. Philippines: The Philippines is granting access to the U.S. to military bases to counter the threat from Communist China in the South China Sea. American troops were stationed in the former U.S. territory during the Cold War, but were removed afterward. U.S. troops again were present in the Philippines in a successful mission against an al-Qaeda affiliate during the War on Terrorism. China: In addition to countering Communist China in the Philippines, the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon yesterday over its territorial waters. It had traversed the American continental mainland, but the U.S. had electronically jammed it and shot it down once it reached the Atlantic Ocean to prevent any collateral damage. Italy and Niger: Italy has been under assault by anarchists protesting the treatment of their leader, who was convicted of violent crimes and whose contact with the outside is limited to prevent him from conspiring to commit more crimes, but the Government will not give into the demands of the anarchists. Meanwhile, Italy will lead a European Union aid and military mission to Niger, which is one of several African States in the Sahel battling Islamist terrorists. After the French withdrawal of its forces from Mali, whose military coup leaders instead contracted with Kremlin-associated “mercenaries” to replace the French in the fight against terrorists, this mission not only aids the War on Terrorism, but checks further Russian Federation influence in Africa. France had succeeded in liberating northern Mali from the jihadists, but Islamist terrorists, including al-Qaeda, have been conducting attacks in multiple States in the region.