The United States announced Monday that it had killed 62 extremists in six air strikes in Somalia on Saturday and Sunday.
The US military’s Africa Command (Africom) said four strikes were carried out on Saturday, killing 34 militants, and two more on Sunday, which killed 28.
“Africa Command and our Somali partners conducted these air strikes to prevent terrorists from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire and recruit for future attacks,” Africom said in a statement.
The air strikes in the vicinity of Gandarsh in Somalia’s south-central Banaadir province were among the deadliest this year. No civilians were killed in the strikes, said Africom.
“At this time we assess these air strikes did not injure or kill any civilians.”
All strikes were carried out in close coordination with Somalia's government, it said.
The Shabaab uses parts of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct extremist attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations and shelter radicals, said the statement.
The US carries out regular air strikes in Somalia in support of a UN-backed government there, which has been fighting against the Shabaab insurgency for years.
With these attacks, the US military has carried out at least 46 airstrikes so far this year against al-Shabaab. The group controls parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to stage deadly attacks in Mogadishu and other cities.
