MOGADISHU — The United States military says it has carried out drone strike targeting Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.
US military said the strike killed at least 18 Al-Shabaab militants in Janaa Abdalla area, some 50km northwest of Kismayo town after U.S. and Somali troops came under attack by Al Shabaab.
In a statement, U.S. Africa Command said two other militants were also killed in clash with Somali especial forces.
“The US military carried out an airstrike, in a bid to participate in a “Somali partner forces-led operation against al Shabab, an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist group,” said a memo.
The United States has carried out more than 20 airstrikes against al Shabab in Somalia in 2018.
The special operations forces have also been rotating through the country for several years to bolster local and regional forces.
There was no immediate comments from Al Shabaab over the claims.
US serves as front-line advisers to a United Nations-backed government of Somalia, struggling against rebel factions across the country, particularly in rural southern Somalia.
The U.S. military partners with the African Union Mission to Somalia, or AMISOM, during combined counter-terrorism operations against al Shabab training camps and terrorist leadership.
The African Union has a combined contribution of roughly 22,000 personnel in Somalia.
In early June, one U.S. soldier was killed and four more were wounded during an attack by al Shabab militants that consisted of small-arms fire and mortars near Kismayo, a town some 500km south of Somali capital Mogadishu.
