The United States military said on Tuesday that it had killed 60 militants of the al-Shabaab group in Somalia, in a “precision” airstrike on Friday. The US Africa Command said this was the biggest airstrike in the country since November 21, 2017, when a similar attack killed 100 alleged militants.
“We also assess that this airstrike did not injure or kill any civilians,” the US Africa Command tweeted. It said that the strike, in Harardheere, was carried out in support of the operations of the Somali government to eliminate al-Shabaab militants.
“Airstrikes reduce al-Shabaab’s ability to plot future attacks, disrupt its leadership networks, and degrade its freedom of manoeuver within the region,” the US military added in a statement. “Alongside our Somali and international partners, we are committed to preventing al-Shabab from taking advantage of safe havens from which they can build capacity and attack the people of Somalia.”
The extremist al-Shabaab group continues to hold parts of the country’s south and central regions after being defeated in the capital Mogadishu, AP reported. It has carried out several deadly bomb attacks in the past year. Sunday was the first anniversary of a truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed over 500 people, one of the worst terrorist attacks ever in the country.
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