Two joint Somali-U.S. airstrikes killed 12 al Shabaab militants in central Somalia and destroyed a ship carrying weapons for the al Qaeda-linked group, the Somali government said on Thursday, following recent advances by the Islamists, APA reports, citing Reuters.
The airstrikes came hours after the Islamists attacked the strategic town of Adan Yabal, which lies about 245 km (150 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu, and has been used as an operating base for raids on al Shabaab.
Al Shabaab has been waging an insurgency since 2007, seeking to seize power and rule based on its own strict interpretation of Islamic law, and it has been gaining ground since last month.
Several senior al Shabaab fighters were among those killed in an airstrike carried out by Somali forces and the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in the Adan Yabal district late on Wednesday, Somalia's government said.
"The targeted strike hit a site used by the militants as a gathering and hideout," the Ministry of Information said in a statement on the social media platform X, adding that no civilians had been killed in the strike.
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