U.S. says new airstrike in Somalia killed 8 Shabab fighters
The U.S. military said it has killed eight members of the Shabab extremist group with an airstrike south of Somalia’s capital.
The U.S. Africa Command statement said the airstrike occurred Saturday near Gandarshe, a coastal community. The statement says no civilians were involved.
The U.S. military has carried out at least 40 airstrikes this year against the Al Qaeda-linked Shabab, Africa’s most active Islamic extremist group. It controls parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to stage deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and other cities.
The U.S. airstrikes have picked up dramatically since President Trump took office and approved expanded military operations in the Horn of Africa nation. Airstrikes also target a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group.
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