More than 100 alleged militants have been killed in a U.S. airstrike on an al-Shabaab training camp in southern Somalia, the U.S. military says, making it one of the deadliest airstrikes to date against the al-Qaeda-linked group.
The airstrike happened at about 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday when U.S. forces carried out an airstrike about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. It happened in the southern region of Bay.
“In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike in Somalia against an al-Shabaab camp .. killing more than 100 militants,” U.S. Africa Command said in a statement, providing no further details.
It makes it one of the deadliest airstrikes to date against al-Shabaab. About 150 fighters of the group were killed in March 2016 when a U.S. airstrike struck a camp where they were said to have been training for a large-scale attack.
Al-Shabaab seeks to control Somalia and impose a strict interpretation of Sharia law. The militant group seized most of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006, but it later lost ground and pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.
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