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US strike kills over 100 Somali militants

More than 100 Somali militants have been killed in a US air strike against al-Shabab and al-Qaeda says the US military.

The US military says it killed more than 100 Islamist militants in Somalia when it launched an air strike against the al-Shabab group, which is allied with al-Qaeda.

The military's Africa Command on Tuesday said the strike was carried out on a camp 125 miles (201 km) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu and that the United States would continue to target militants.

The strike was done in coordination with Somalia's federal government, the Pentagon said.

US air strikes killing such a large number of militants in Somalia are rare, but not unprecedented. In March 2016, a US air strike killed more than 150 al-Shabab fighters in Somalia.

Al-Shabab is fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed transitional federal government and impose its own rule on the Horn of Africa country.

Al-Shabab has lost control of most of Somalia's cities and towns since it was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011.

But it retains a strong presence in parts of the south and centre and carries out gun and bomb attacks.

"Al-Shabab has publicly committed to planning and conducting attacks against the US and our partners in the region," the US military statement said.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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