U.S. strike in Somalia kills about 60 militants
18 October, 2018
The U.S. military on Tuesday announced its deadliest airstrike against the Al-Shabab extremist group in Somalia in nearly a year, killing about 60 fighters.
The U.S. Africa Command said Friday’s airstrike occurred near the Al-Shabab-controlled community of Harardere in Mudug province in the central part of the country. According to its assessment no civilians were injured or killed, the statement said.
It was the largest U.S. airstrike since one on Nov. 21, 2017, killed about 100 Al-Shabab fighters. The statement gave no further details about what was targeted, and a U.S. Africa Command spokesman said it was not a camp.
The U.S. military has carried out more than two dozen airstrikes, including drone strikes, this year against the Al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabab, the deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa.
Somalia on Sunday marked the first anniversary of Al-Shabab’s deadliest attack, a truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed well over 500 people. It was one of the world’s deadliest attacks since 9/11 and the worst extremist attack ever in Africa.
The U.S. Africa Command spokesman said the airstrike had no link to the anniversary.
The United States, which also has targeted a small number of fighters linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group in northern Somalia, has increased its military presence in the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation since early 2017 to about 500 personnel after U.S. President Donald Trump approved expanded military operations.