team of U.S. and Somali troops, who were conducting an operation near Kismayo, with small-arms fire. A Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. military "conducted a self-defense strike to neutralize the threat and in doing so killed nine enemy fighters." Also on 28 September, near the town of Galkayo, a Somali army unit conducting counterterrorism operations nearby, when the Somali soldiers came under fire from al-Shabab militants. The Somali soldiers engaged them, then broke contact and rejoined with their nearby American advisers and soon afterwards the militants "began to maneuver in an offensive manner" so the U.S. conducted a self-defense airstrike, killing 4 militants. 2017: American involvement expanded In late March 2017, President Donald Trump signed off a new strategy granting AFRICOM more freedom in counterterrorist operations. Stars and Stripes reported that in addition to the stepping-up of airstrikes, US special forces on the frontlines with Somali forces have also been increased, conventional US troops give lessons in building defense institutions, with added support from other nations. CNN reported that General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of AFRICOM, told reporters in April that the US seeks to help Somali security forces gain the ability to provide for their own security by 2021. The New York Times reported that on 4 May 2017, a US Navy SEAL team partnered with Somali National Army forces, carried out a mission on an al-Shabaab-occupied complex around west of Mogadishu. Fox News reported that they targeting what Pentagon spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis said was a "group of people" associated with attacks on Mogadishu. The New York Times reported that Defence Department officials said that Somali forces were to have led the operation, with the SEALs hanging back in an advise, assist and accompany role, however Brig.Gen. David J. Furness, the commander of the military's task force for the Horn of Africa, said that American and Somali forces were traveling together in a single group. Whilst approaching the complex, the militants opened fire and the mission was aborted, Senior chief petty officer Kyle Milliken was killed, 2 other SEALs and an interpreter were wounded. Captain Jeff Davis said that the mission "resulted in the death of three Shabaab operatives including Moalin Osman Abdi Badil," the group quickly returned to the aircraft that had taken it to the area and was exfilled. Davis described Badil as an al-Shabaab leader responsible for gathering information on troop movements in order to support