US Army says its airstrike kills 5 militants in central Somalia

The U.S. military has announced Sunday that it launched an airstrike that killed five extremist militants in central Somalia.

The U.S. Africa Command confirmed to the Associated Press that the airstrike was near El-Bur. The statement said it assessed that no civilians were killed in the airstrike.

Two Somali intelligence officials told AP on Sunday that the airstrike targeted a vehicle carrying senior al-Shabab officials and the dead included a woman. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for their security.

The U.S. has carried out more than a dozen drone strikes against al-Shabab since last year, after the Trump administration approved expanded military efforts against the extremist group.

The U.S. said the latest airstrike, like others, was carried out in cooperation with Somalia’s government.   Source:AP