MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somali armed group Al Shabaab has claimed to have foiled an attack by Somali forces backed by US soldiers overnight in Daru Salam near Awdhegle town, 60km south of Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Two other US soldiers were also injured during the operation, according to a statement aired by an Al-Shabaab mouthpiece.
The group’s affiliate media say troops used drone strikes during the attack.
Neither Somalia nor U.S. military commented on the claims by made Al Shabaab.
US military involvement in Somalia has grown since President Donald Trump approved expanded operations against al-Shabab early in his term.
The US military carried out 26 drone attacks this year in Somalia.
Since the expanded operations, two US military personnel have been killed in Somalia.
A soldier died in May 2017 during an operation about 64km west of the capital, Mogadishu.
In June, another US soldier was killed and four others were wounded in an “enemy attack” as Somali and Kenyan forces came under mortar and small-arms fire in Jubaland.
The US currently has about 500 military personnel in the Horn of Africa nation.
Al-Shabab was pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in recent years but continues to control rural areas in the south and central regions.
The al-Qaeda-linked group has been carrying our bomb and gun attacks for more than a decade.
