Berlin - The US Africa Command (Africom) said it killed a
member of Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab in an airstrike in
Somalia's south on Monday.
Africom said that the strike, carried out in coordination with the
Somalian government, killed one terrorist near Dujuuma, some 350
kilometres south-west of the capital Mogadishu.
"We currently assess no civilians were injured or killed as a result
of this airstrike," a statement by the command said.
"The removal of al-Shabaab terrorists increases the security of the
Somali people as these terrorists indiscriminately attack and extort
innocent civilians and destabilize the elected government," Africom's
deputy director of operations Bradford Gering said.
"The Somali National Army and their partners have made significant
strides in targeting al-Shabaab terrorists in order to deny them the
ability to plot attacks against the people of Somalia," he added.
Al-Shabaab is affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist
network and launches regular attacks within the volatile East African
nation.
Last Wednesday, six people were killed when heavily armed al-Shabaab
fighters attacked an army base some 25 kilometres north of Mogadishu.
A day earlier 11 people, including five militants, died in an attack
on an hotel later claimed by the terrorist group.