The US Africa Command, AFRICOM, reported on Wednesday that the US military carried out three airstrikes in Somalia, killing four members of the al-Shabab terrorist group.
“The command’s initial assessment is that the strikes killed four al-Shabab terrorists and that no civilians were injured or killed. US forces are authorised to conduct strikes in defense of designated partner forces,” AFRICOM said in a statement.
According to the statement, the airstrikes were carried out on August 9 in collaboration with the federal government of Somalia and were directed at the terrorists near Beledweyne.
The fall of Siad Barre’s rule in 1991 caused Somalia as a whole to disintegrate. The federal administration, which has control over the country’s capital Mogadishu and a number of other regions, is acknowledged by the international community as the only legitimate power in Somalia.
Large portions of the southern and central regions of Somalia are under the control of the terrorist organisation al-Shabab, which is fighting an armed conflict with the federal government.
In order to counter the growing threat that the terror organisation poses to US partner troops, the US decided to resume strikes against it in May.
This comes after the al-Shabab executed seven men in Somalia’s southwestern region of Bay last week.
The execution that was conducted publicly took place in the vicinity of Buula-Fulay in Somalia’s Bay region late Saturday.
Six of the executed men were accused of spying for the Somali government and the U.S.
Three of them were also accused of providing intelligence that led to the killing of senior al-Shabab leaders, Yusuf Jiis and Abdulkadir Commandos, who were targeted in U.S. airstrikes in 2020.