The U.S. military said that two more airstrikes were used to kill al-Shabab fighters in Hirshabelle State, Somalia.
The U.S. military in Africa claims that on December 14 and 17, near the seaside town of Adale, it carried out two “collective self-defense” strikes on the group.
The Somali Federal Government asked for the air strikes, which helped the Somali National Army’s forces.
Seven terrorists were killed in the first strike, which happened 176 kilometres northeast of Mogadishu, and eight al-Shabab fighters were killed in the second strike, which happened about 220 kilometres northeast of Mogadishu.
According to AFRICOM, the initial assessment of U.S. Africa Command is that neither of the two strikes injured or killed any people.
“U.S. Africa Command will continue to review the results of these actions and provide more information as needed,” the statement said.
“In order to keep operations secret, specific details about the units involved and the equipment used will not be shared.”
A report from the Somali government on December 15 says that al-Shabab was going after the villages of Juhay and Gulane in the Hirshabelle State.
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The government says that 88 al-Shabab fighters were killed during the 48-hour operation, which was done in cooperation with international partners. This is a term that is often used to mean that friendly countries helped the Somali army by using airstrikes.
The government allegedly released images and videos of al-Shabab members who were slain during the operation on Friday. A commander of the al-Shabab named Yusuf Mohamed Jingab was among those slain in the operation, according to a report on Saturday from the Somali Ministry of Information. No one has yet checked out what the Somali government says about how many people have died.
Since August, operations have been going on in the Hirshabelle and Galmudug states with the help of local fighters. These operations have freed many communities from al-Shabab.
According to Somali security sources, other nations back government forces with air power as well. Somali forces were also getting help from the air from Turkey, according to security officials who spoke to VOA Somali late last month on the condition that they not be named because the operation was so sensitive.
When contacted by VOA Somali, the Turkish Ministry of Defense refused to confirm or deny the use of Turkish drones in the campaign against al-Shabab.
