US says it killed 12 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia airstrike
By Paul LeBlanc, CNN
US Africa Command has said it killed 12 al-Shabaab fighters in a remote area of Somalia on Friday in support of that country’s federal government and army.
No civilians were injured or killed, AFRICOM said in a statement Sunday, given the remote location of the strike, about 472 kilometers northeast of the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
“Rooting out extremism requires intervention beyond traditional military means,” the command said.
The US has provided ongoing support to the Somali government since President Joe Biden last year approved a Pentagon request to redeploy US troops the area in an attempt to counter the al-Shabaab terrorist group. The approval to send fewer than 500 troops was a reversal of former President Donald Trump‘s decision to withdraw all US troops from the country in 2020.
In recent months, US forces have conducted numerous strikes in the region that have resulted in dozens of al-Shabaab casualties.
Last month, the US carried out a strike in Somalia that killed approximately 30 al-Shabaab fighters, AFRICOM said. A US strike in October killed two members of the terrorist group and a subsequent November strike killed 17 fighters. And in late December, a US strike killed six al-Shabaab militants near the city of Cadale.
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CNN’s Gregory Clary and Sydney Kashiwagi contributed to this report.
