Airstrike by U.S. forces in Somalia kills 18 al-Shabab

JOHANNESBURG — A U.S. military airstrike has killed 18 alShabab extremists after U.S. and local ground forces were attacked in southern Somalia, the U.S. Africa Command said Saturday.

No U.S. or Somali forces were killed or injured, AFRICOM spokesman Nate Herring said. The airstrike was carried out Friday in self-defense after extremists were “observed maneuvering on a combined patrol,” while the U.S. also responded with “indirect fire,” he said.

The confrontation was about 31 miles northwest of Kismayo, the U.S. Africa Command said. Two other al-Shabab extremists were killed by Somali forces “with small arms fire during the engagement,” it said.

The operation was Somali-led, the AFRICOM spokesman said. Somali authorities had no immediate comment.

The U.S. has carried out more than 20 airstrikes this year against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, the deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa.

U.S. military involvement in Somalia has grown since President Donald Trump early in his term approved expanded operations against al-Shabab. Dozens of drone strikes followed. Late last year the military also carried out its first airstrike against a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State in northern Somalia.

Since the expanded operations, two U.S. military personnel have been killed in Somalia.