WASHINGTON: The United States army has confirmed that it conducted a new airstrike against al-Shabab militants in the Middle Juba region of southern Somalia.
The airstrikes were carried out in Jilib town in collaboration with the Somali federal government, according to the statement issued by the United States Africa Command known as AFRICOM.
The statement said, “The command’s initial assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed.”
The AFRICOM statement did not say whether any senior al-Shabab commanders were targeted. Jilib, 385 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu, is an al-Shabab stronghold.
According to Voice of America, the airstrike came as Mahad Salad, director of Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, was in New York and Washington, meeting with the United States officials from the Pentagon, FBI and CIA.
On Monday, four Somali soldiers were killed in a roadside explosion in Mogadishu’s Daynile district.
Brigadier General Abdullahi Ali Anod, the ministry’s spokesperson, said the attack occurred at about 9 am and three armed soldiers and an officer with the construction unit were killed.
He said capital security has improved despite the explosion since new military police (MP) were deployed more than a month ago. The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in Daynile.
Anod said that since the government launched an offensive against the militants in August, the number of improvised explosive attacks by al-Shabab has decreased.
“We’re not saying the explosions stopped, but they weakened,” Anod said. He added that the government had been expecting increased attacks during Ramadan, but that didn’t happen.
He said, “The enemy is wounded, but they can still fire bullets.”
