U.S. Military Kills 5 Al-Shabaab Militants In Airstrike In Somalia

by PH January 8, 2021, 1:48 pm

A picture taken on January 13, 2020, during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows US army drones at the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both hosting US and other foreign troops, in an operation it dubbed a response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Guards' Quds Force, in a January 3 US drone strike near Baghdad's airport. (Photo by Ayman Henna / AFP) (Photo by AYMAN HENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Five Al-Shabaab militants, including targeted leaders of the jihadist group, were killed in an airstrike in Somalia by the U.S. military, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said.

According to AFRICOM, the airstrike took place in the vicinity of Saaxa Weyne on Thursday. An initial assessment by AFRICOM showed that no civilians were injured or killed as a result of the operation.

“This strike targeted known al-Shabaab leaders who facilitated finance, weapons, fighters, and explosives. One is suspected of being involved in a previous attack against U.S. and Somali forces,” U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, Joint Task Force – Quartz commander said.

“Our continued disruption of al-Shabaab through persistent strikes shows our ongoing commitment to our partners.”

This is the latest operation by the U.S. military in coordination with Somalia’s federal government. At the beginning of the month, two airstrikes targeting militant compounds in the vicinity of Qunyo Barrow killed three suspected Al-Shabaab militants and destroyed six compound buildings.

Al-Shabaab has waged a war against the Somali central government for several years in an attempt to impose strict Islamic law in the Horn of Africa nation.