US claims four Shabab militants killed in Somalia strike

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 19, 2018 07:38PM

The United States Africa Command has claimed that its airstrikes have killed four members of the al-Shabab militant group in southern Somalia.

A statement from the command on Friday said the militants of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group were killed in an area about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the port city of Kismayo.

Declining to provide further details, Africa Command claimed no civilians were killed in the attack, which it said was undertaken "in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia."

There have been many ambiguities surrounding US drone strikes and bombardments in the rural regions of Somalia, a war-torn country still reeling from more than two decades of militancy.

The US military has stepped up its airstrikes in the Horn of Africa nation after getting President Donald Trump's approval for expanded military operations there.

Al-Shabab, Africa's most-feared militant group which has links to al-Qaeda, still controls large parts of land in southern Somalia. The group has a history of fighting Somalia's government since the 1990s.

The Pentagon has been carrying out airstrikes and ground raids in Somalia for a decade, initially using helicopters and AC-130 gunships.

In June 2011, American forces began using drones to carry out the strikes, in a mission which has so far failed to uproot militancy in the country.

Despite being ousted from large parts of the south and central Somalia, al-Shabab continues deadly attacks across the country, which has been ravaged by decades of war and poverty.

The militant group aims to oust the western-backed government in Mogadishu and drive out African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops. It has been carrying out militancy since 2006.

The AU announced last November that it was withdrawing 1,000 of its troop as part of a plan to fully withdraw from the heavily-fractured country by 2020.