US airstrike kills five Al Shabaab members in Somalia

The Somali Army estimates the number of dead terrorists at one hundred

July 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United States Army has announced this Thursday the death of five presumed members of Al Shabaab, linked to the terrorist organization Al Qaeda, in an air strike carried out in a remote area near the town of Hareeri Kalle.

The US Army Africa Command (AFRICOM) has indicated that the operation has been carried out in coordination with Somali forces, following a request from the Somali government.

The attack, as reported by AFRICOM in a statement on its website, has left no civilian victims.

For their part, the Somali authorities indicated this Wednesday that in an Army operation in cooperation with US troops they managed to kill close to a hundred members of Al Shabaab in an area bordering the Galgudud and Middle Shabelle regions (center), in the framework of the recent offensives against the group.

The country’s Ministry of Information took the opportunity to thank in a statement the United States operation in support of the Somali troops, since “they have helped in this operation to destroy (…) those who are gathering to harass the people Somali”.

In addition, the troops of the African country have reported the death of another 15 militants, including three leaders, in an operation carried out this Thursday afternoon. “The operation successfully dismantled a barricade and a terrorist hideout in the Bay region where they had tried to blockade residents,” reports the SONNA news agency.

The barricades have been destroyed and public transport that had been blocked has been “released”, according to the aforementioned agency, which indicates that this has been the second operation in less than 24 hours on the highway that connects the capital, Mogadishu, with the city. from Baidoa, capital of the Bay region.

Somalia has increased offensives against Al Shabaab in recent months with the support of clans and local militias as part of a series of decisions taken by the president, Hasan Sheikh Mohamud, who promised upon taking office to put the fight against terrorism at the center of his efforts to stabilize the African country.