US airstrike against al-Shabaab in Somalia kills 4, Africom says

[Deeq A.]

MOGADISHU, Somalia –  The U.S. military says it has carried out an airstrike in Somalia that killed four members of the al-Shabab extremist group.

A statement Friday from the U.S. Africa Command says the strike was carried out Thursday about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of the port city of Kismayo. The statement says no civilians were killed.

The U.S. military carried out more than 30 drone strikes last year in the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation after President Donald Trump approved expanded military efforts against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.

The extremist group was blamed for the October truck bombing in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, that killed 512 people. A U.S. strike early this month killed two al-Shabab extremists and destroyed a vehicle carrying explosives, “preventing it from being used against the people in Mogadishu.”

AP