Before Djibouti became the epicentre for counter terrorism operations in Africa, unilateral operations were launched from temporary forward locations in friendly nations such as Kenya, or from US Navy ships. The earliest known operation in Somalia was known as Operation Cobalt Blue: In 2003, SEALs using SEAL Delivery Vehicles swam ashore along the Somali coastline and emplaced covert surveillance cameras. Known as cardinals, the cameras were designed to watch likely target locations for wanted terrorists as al-Qaeda and its affiliates began to regroup in the country, however the cameras only took one image a day and captured very little.
Before Djibouti became the epicentre for counter terrorism operations in Africa unilateral operations were launched from temporary forward locations in friendly nations such as Kenya or from US Navy ships The earliest known operation in Somalia was known as Operation Cobalt Blue In 2003 SEALs using SEAL Delivery Vehicles swam ashore along the Somali coastline and emplaced covert surveillance cameras Known as cardinals the cameras were designed to watch likely target locations for wanted terrorists as al-Qaeda and its affiliates began to regroup in the country however the cameras only took one image a day and captured very little