US Africa Command Holds Joint Training Exercise in Libya

A Libyan joint forces soldier participated in live-fire training during Flintlock 2026 in Sirte, Libya, on April 19, 2026. US Africa Command held its premier special operations exercise, Flintlock 2026, in Sirte this April. Libyan forces from rival camps that had been on opposing sides of a civil war trained alongside US and international partners.

Libya, Italy, and the United States announced the exercise as part of efforts to support development of a unified Libyan military. Sirte was once the Islamic State’s most important stronghold outside Iraq and Syria. The training occurred in a rehearsal for hostage rescue and direct action against terrorist targets.

A recent visit to USAFRICOM headquarters and a site visit to Sirte reinforced that the command’s partner-centric model can produce tangible results. The continent’s security challenges remain a strategic vulnerability for the United States because they have been chronically under-resourced and under-prioritized.

Parts of the continent have turned into a terrorist safe haven. In Mali and neighboring Sahel countries, al-Qaeda-linked fighters from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen have expanded pressure on Mali’s Russia-backed military junta. Western forces have had little operational presence in Mali since France’s 2022 withdrawal while Russia’s security role has grown.

African nodes now help finance, coordinate, inspire, and in some cases plot activity far beyond the continent. For the first time in nearly a decade, Islamic terrorists are on the verge of recreating a new caliphate sanctuary. The United States has conducted repeated strikes against Daesh-Somalia and al-Shabaab, including a two-week operation in August 2025 against Daesh leadership safe havens in Puntland’s Golis Mountains and additional strikes early this year.

These operations were coordinated with the Federal Government of Somalia. Al-Shabaab remains a larger and more entrenched local threat than Daesh-Somalia. It has built a sophisticated taxation and extortion apparatus and is estimated to raise roughly $100 million annually.

Daesh-Somalia and other African affiliates generate revenue through extortion, illicit taxation, kidnapping for ransom, and other criminal enterprises. The landscape is not a single unified jihadist front. Daesh-Somalia and al-Shabaab are rivals and have fought each other.

In the Sahel, Daesh-Sahel Province and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen also compete, cooperate tactically at times, exploit separatist and ethnic conflicts, and adapt to local grievances.