The United States has carried out a massive air strike on a militant training camp in Somalia, reportedly killing around 150 fighters with the al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab.
The strike, which utilised both manned and unmanned military drones, may have killed more people than all previous U-S drone strikes in the African nation put together.
The United States says its intelligence suggested the militants in the camp were preparing an imminent, large-scale attack on U-S and African Union forces.
The US military says it has been watching the al Shabaab training camp in Somalia for weeks.
On Saturday, an opportunity arose.
Militants lined up outside the camp in formation as part of what US officials believe was a graduation ceremony.
At that moment, US aircraft dropped guided bombs and fired missiles, killing an estimated 150 fighters.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the militants were planning an attack on US and African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, forces.
"The fighters, who were scheduled to depart the camp, posed an imminent threat to US and African Union mission forces in Somalia. Their removal, the removal of those terrorist fighters, degrades al Shabaab's ability to meet the group's objectives in Somalia, including recruiting new members, establishing bases and planning attacks on US and AMISOM forces."
He would not confirm how many people were killed in the strike on the camp, located around 200 kilometres north of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The 150 figure came from a statement released by the US Pentagon.
While the target was a known al Shabaab camp, Mr Earnest said he could not yet confirm whether any civilians had been harmed.
"I can tell you that the Department of Defence applies the highest possible standard in avoiding civilian casualties before even deciding to move forward on an operation like this, so avoiding casualities is a very, very high priority."
It comes as East Africa analysts say al Shabaab has been making a comeback since U-S strikes killed the group's top leadership in 2014.
In the past two months, the al-Qaeda affiliate has killed more than 150 people itself, including Kenyan soldiers stationed at a remote desert outpost.
The group also claimed responsibility for a bomb placed aboard a Somali jetliner that tore a hole through the fuselage.
And it claimed an attack on a popular hotel and a public garden in Mogadishu that killed 10 people.
In 2013, the group was responsible for an attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Kenya that killed at least 67 people and wounded another 175.
Al Shabaab has long targeted neighbouring Kenya because Kenyan military forces fight with the African Union mission against the group in Somalia.
On Sunday, an Australian naval ship had intercepted a boat bound for Somalia with more than 2,000 weapons hidden onboard under fishing nets.
It was not clear whether the weapons were intended for al Shabaab.
Somalian foreign minister Abdusalam Omer says his country's intelligence agency had provided information about the camp to the United States in the run-up to the air strikes.
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