MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that it conducted airstrikes in Somalia over the weekend that killed three al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants and that there were no civilian casualties.
The U.S. Africa Command, based in Stuttgart Germany, said in a statement that the strikes were done at the request of Somalia’s government, and they were carried out in a remote area about 35 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of port city Kismayo on Sunday. The statement didn’t give the identity of those targeted.
There was no immediate response from al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab is the largest and most active al-Qaida network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces and threaten Washington’s security interests, the statement said.
The militants have been waging a 16-year-old insurgency against the weak, Western-backed Somali government, which is being bolstered by African Union peacekeeping troops.
The militants have carried out large-scale extremist attacks in neighboring Kenya. Kenyan troops are part of the AU’s peacekeeping forces in Somalia, and al-Shabab has vowed to take revenge against the Kenyan troop presence with attacks.
In 2020, al-Shabab extremists overran a key military base used by U.S. counterterror forces on the Kenyan coast, killing three American soldiers and destroying several U.S. aircraft and vehicles before they were repelled.
The 19,000-strong multinational AU peacekeeping force has begun a phased withdrawal from the country with the aim of handing over security responsibilities in the coming months to Somali forces, which have been described by some experts as not ready for the challenge.
Last month, Somalia’s government welcomed the U.N. Security Council’s vote to lift the arms embargo imposed on the country more than three decades ago, saying it would help in the modernization of Somali forces.
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