US drone strike kills six Al-Shabaab fighters in Lower Shabelle Somalia

The U.S. military said Sunday it conducted a drone strike in Somalia that killed six members of the Al-Shabaab extremist group.

A statement from the U.S. Africa Command said the airstrike occurred Sunday in Dheerow Sanle area of Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia

The statement said no civilians were killed.

The strike, AFRICOM said was to diminish Al-Shabaab’s freedom of movement and to increase pressure on the terrorist network in the area.

“In particular, the group uses portions of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct terror attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations, and shelter radical terrorists,” AFRICOM said.

The strike happened barely four days after a similar strike killed ten militants in the same vicinity on January 2, 2019.

The double strike comes days after the U.S. defense department has denied a media report the said U.S. is planning to reduce its operations in Somalia.

Goobjoog News