MOGADISHU ( Halbeeg News)-At least 13 al-Shabaab fighters have been killed in an airstrike outside the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the US army said.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) statement says the airstrike happened in Gandarshe, 48km south of Mogadishu, on Friday.
According to AFRICOM, the group uses Gandarshe as a staging area for bombings in the capital, Mogadishu.
“To support the Federal Government of Somalia’s continued efforts to degrade al-Shabaab, US Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab fighters in the vicinity of Gandarshe, Lower Shabelle Region, Somalia, on February 1, 2019,” the statement said.
“US Africa Command currently assesses this airstrike killed thirteen (13), militants. At this time, it was assessed no civilians were injured or killed in this airstrike.”
The Pentagon has increased the rate of strikes in Somalia in recent years, partly because President Donald Trump loosened constraints on when the US military can take action against alleged militants.
It was the ninth such airstrike carried out by the US this year.
The US carried out nearly 60 strikes last year in the Horn of Africa nation against al-Shabaab.
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