Mogadishu, Somalia

The United States military carried out a strike in Somalia and killed at least 30 al-Shabaab fighters, said the US Africa Command in a statement on Saturday (January 21). The “collective self-defence strike”, as the US military described it, took place in the central Somalian town of Galcad, on Friday, where the East African nation’s military was engaged in heavy fighting. However, there was no US military present on the ground when the airstrike occurred, said Washington’s defence official. 

The operation was about 260 km away from the north of the capital Mogadishu where the Somali forces were attacked by at least 100 al-Shabaab fighters, said the statement. According to the Somali government and the militant group, at least seven soldiers were killed after the al-Shabaab fighters stormed the Somali military base in Galcad, reported Reuters. The US Africa Command, which is the American government’s presence on the continent, also said no civilians were injured or killed due to the remote location at which the strike occurred but three vehicles were destroyed. 

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Meanwhile, a statement by Somalia’s Information Ministry said their soldiers had killed at least 100 fighters and destroyed five gun-mounted pick-up vehicles known as technicals, said a Reuters report. The militant group has been fighting since 2006 to topple the country’s government. Last year, as a part of the ongoing support by US President Joe Biden’s administration, Washington approved Pentagon’s request to redeploy troops in the region to counter the militant group. 

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In the statement, on Saturday, the US military said, “Somalia remains central to stability and security in all of East Africa. US Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to help give them the tools they need to defeat al-Shabaab, the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world”. So far, the US forces have conducted several strikes in Somalia and killed many members of al-Shabaab. The last one took place in December near the Somalian city of Cadale which resulted in the death of at least six al-Shabaab militants. 

(With inputs from agencies) 

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