Washington conducts “airstrike in self-defense” in Africa

Over the weekend, the US carried out an attack against an Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist group in Somalia. The Somali government sought combat support on Saturday after Al-Shabaab terrorists “engaged” the national army, according to the US Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Nearly 45 km from the southern coastal city of Kismayo, the US retaliated with “a collective self-defense airstrike”. 13 militants were first estimated to have been killed, and no civilians were wounded, according to a statement from AFRICOM.

The statement read, “The command will continue to evaluate the outcomes of this operation and will make further disclosures as necessary.

In recent months, the Pentagon has expanded drone attacks in Somalia, claiming requests from the nation’s federal leadership. The US reported in July that an American UAV had killed five al-Shabaab insurgents in a remote area of the nation.

Since the middle of the 2000s, Al-Shaabab, a spinoff of Al-Qaeda, has operated in Somalia. For more than three decades, the nation in the Horn of Africa has suffered from ongoing civil wars and a severe humanitarian crises. Last month, a suicide bomber inside an army post in the capital, Mogadishu, detonated his vest, killing at least 20 soldiers.