Somalia: US strike kills nine Al-Shabaab militants

[Deeq A.]

MOGADISHU (Caasimada Online)–The U.S. military says it killed nine al Qaeda linked al-Shabab militants in drone airstrike in southern Somalia.

The strike was conducted that was conducted on Monday, about 540km south of Somali capital Mgadishu, according to US Africom Command.

The U.S. Africa Command said one militant was also injured in the strike. The raid was carried out in coordination with the Somali government
The U.S. has conducted more than 20 such airstrikes in Somalia this year.

The Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab was pushed out of the Somali capital in 2011 — and subsequently other towns and cities — by soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia.

But the Islamists still hold sway in large parts of the countryside and launch regular gun and bomb attacks on government, military and civilian targets in Mogadishu and ambushes on military convoys and outposts.

The United States has carried out more than 20 airstrikes against Al-Shabab in Somalia in 2018.

The special operations forces have also been rotating through the country for several years to bolster local and regional forces.

There was no immediate comments from Al Shabaab over the claims.

US serves as front-line advisers to a United Nations-backed government of Somalia, struggling against rebel factions across the country, particularly in rural southern Somalia.

The U.S. military partners with the African Union Mission to Somalia, or AMISOM, during combined counter-terrorism operations against al Shabab training camps and terrorist leadership.

The African Union has a combined contribution of roughly 22,000 personnel in Somalia.

In early June, one U.S. soldier was killed and four more were wounded during an attack by Al-Shabab militants that consisted of small-arms fire and mortars near Kismayo, a town some 500km south of Somali capital Mogadishu.

Caasimada Online
Mogadishu News Desk
Caasimada@live.com