Suspected US drone crashes in Shabaab-held village of Lower Shabelle

A suspected U.S. drone has crashed in a village located 60 Km South of Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu, local residents said Saturday.

Locals in Bariire village in Lower Shabelle region said that the drone crashed the near their village.

They added that Al-Shabaab fighters cordoned off the crash site.

The pro-Al-Shabaab website, meanwhile, quoted a group leader as saying that his group had seized a U.S. drone which had been on a reconnaissance mission above territories captured earlier by Al-Shabaab.

The drone wreckage and the cameras were retrieved by the group, an Al-Shabaab commander said.

“It crashed away from civilian areas. Our fighters took it away and we have removed the cameras from the drone,” said the commander.

Previously drone strikes have targeted senior members of the group, which is fighting to topple Somalia’s internationally recognised government.