The American military has announced that it recently carried out an attack on al-Shabab extremists in southern Somalia’s Middle Juba area.
According to a news release issued Monday by the U.S. Africa Command, often known as AFRICOM, the airstrike was conducted near Jilib town on Saturday in coordination with the Somali federal government.
According to the command’s preliminary assessment, no people were hurt or killed, according to the statement.
No specific top al-Shabab leaders were mentioned in the AFRICOM release as being targeted. Al-Shabab’s stronghold is Jilib, which is located 385 kilometers (239 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.
According to a source with knowledge of the visit who asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak to the media and who was in Washington and New York meeting with Pentagon, CIA, and FBI representatives, Mahad Salad, director of Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, was visiting during the time of the attack.
The source also said that the discussions centered on the two nations’ collaboration in security and counterterrorism.
In the meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense said that a roadside bomb in Mogadishu’s Daynile region on Monday claimed the lives of four Somali government troops.
The incident happened at 9 a.m., according to Brigadier General Abdullahi Ali Anod, a spokeswoman for the ministry, and three soldiers and an officer from the construction unit were slain.
Despite the explosion, he said that since additional military police were sent out more than a month ago, capital security has been advancing.
According to government sources, the new soldiers were among the Somali security personnel recently trained in Uganda.
Al-Shabab commander Ahmed Diriye, also known as Ahmed Umar and Abu Ubaidah, allegedly made an appearance in a film released by the organization’s media division.
The gathering, which was attended by numerous prominent al-Shabab figures, traditional elders, and religious academics is seen on film. The gathering, dubbed “Jihad in East Africa,” was held from May 8 to May 15, according to the group’s propaganda. The location of the meeting has not been made public by the organisation.
In the film, a faceless Diriye discusses the military operation that the Somali government and neighborhood Ma’awisley warriors carried out to expel al-Shabab from substantial portions of the Hirshabelle and Galmudug states. The attack, which began in August of last year and ran until the beginning of this year, according to Diriye, “failed.” According to the Somali administration, a second phase of the attack is about to begin.
The extremist leader’s face has not before been shown in al-Shabab films. After his predecessor, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in a U.S. operation on September 1, 2014, Diriye was appointed to the position. The U.S. has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on his whereabouts.
