Pentagon identifies Navy SEAL killed in Somalia

Kyle Milliken

The Navy SEAL killed Friday in combat in Somalia was 38-year-old Kyle Milliken of Falmouth, Maine, the Defense Department said.

Milliken, a chief special warfare officer, died during an operation against the extremist Islamic militant group al-Shabaab in Somalia. The fighting took place in a remote area approximately 40 miles west of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the US Africa Command said.



Two other Americans were reportedly wounded in the same firefight. A Pentagon spokesman said Friday that U.S. special operations troops had come under fire after U.S. aircraft delivered Somali forces to the target area.

The troops were part of an operation conducted with the Somali National Army and the African Union Mission in the war-torn country. Al-Shabaab is closely to Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that has targeted Americans.

The US military has carried out airstrikes against the terror group in Somalia for years.

Last month, dozens of troops were sent to Somalia, the largest such deployment there in about two decades.

Milliken was assigned to an East Coast-based special warfare unit that was supporting Somali National Army-led operations. The Pentagon did not provide additional details about his service.

He was the first was the first U.S. soldier to die in Somalia since 1993, when 18 U.S. servicemen were killed after two helicopters were shot down over Mogadishu. The incident was recounted in the book and film “Black Hawk Down.”

NYP