U.S air strikes kill 12 Al-Shabaab fighters in southern Somalia

U.S. conducted airstrikes Monday and Tuesday that killed 12 Al-Shabaab fighters in Southern Somalia, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said Tueday.

Al Shabaab have staged many bomb and gun attacks in the capital Mogadishu in its bid to topple Somalia’s Western-backed government and have also hit targets in neighboring Kenya since Nairobi joined African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia.

Unmanned drones were used in the attacks on Al-Shabaab military base in Yontoy village which is about 24 kilometers north of the coastal city of Kismayo, according to the spokesman.

He said the targeted militants posed an imminent threat to U.S. personnel who were assisting Somali government forces north of the city of Kismayo in southern Somalia.

“This was in southern Somalia against al-Shabaab targets that were posing an imminent threat to US (and Somali) personnel,” said Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis.

Residents said that what appeared to be a drone attack took place at Yomtoy in Lower Jubba region on Tuesday.

“We heard three big crashes at an al Shabaab base in Yontoy last night. It looked like a drone but we have no news of casualties,” Farah Ismail, a resident of the area, told Goobjoog News.

The latest drone strike targeting the group comes after another strike on Thursday, March 31 killed their commander Hassan Ali Dhoore.

According to the US Department of Defense, Dhoore was suspected to be planning more attacks targeting Americans living in Somalia.

On March 5, US drone strikes killed 150 al-Shabaab militants at a training camp in Somalia.

According to the US government the terrorists were planning to launch attacks on AMISOM and US forces in the country.

The Jihadists were pushed out of Mogadishu by AU forces in 2011 but have continued attacks, often going after politicians and officials in Somalia, as well as AU and Somali forces.