Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.
The United States Africa Command said on Friday that the U.S. military conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia on Wednesday, November 9, killing 17 terrorists.
“Working with the Somali National Army, U.S. Africa Command’s initial assessment is that the strike killed 17 attacking al Shabaab terrorists and that no civilians were injured or killed,” AFRICOM said in a statement, adding that the strike occurred in a remote area approximately 285 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
Al-Shabaab is the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world and has proven both its will and capability to attack Somali, East African, and American civilians, AFRICOM said.
It added that “Somalia remains key to the stability and security in all of East Africa. U.S. Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to give them the tools that they need to defeat al-Shabaab.”