US deadly airstrikes ‘to prevent extremist attack’
US AIRSTRIKES in Somalia, in which 62 people were killed, were a pre-emptive attack to prevent a major extremist attack, according to a Somali intelligence officer.
The US military said it carried out four strikes on Saturday, in which 34 people were killed, and two more on Sunday which killed 28.
The air attacks targeted the coastal town of Gandarshe, south of the capital Mogadishu.
No civilians were injured or killed in the attacks, it said.
The strikes were carried out in close co-ordination with Somalia’s government and were “conducted to prevent al-Shabab from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire, and recruit for future attacks”, said the US military statement.
The US airstrikes were aimed at al-Shabab fighters who were preparing a major attack on a Somali government military base in the Lower Shabelle region, said a Somali intelligence official.
“The strike has neutralised an imminent attack,” he said. The airstrikes hit both a military camp and battle vehicles in Gandarshe.
Al-Shabab has long used Gandarshe, 30 miles south-west of Mogadishu, as a launching pad for attacks, including car bombs that hit the capital.
Al-Shabab uses parts of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct extremist attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations, and shelter radicals, said the US military statement.
With these attacks, the US military has carried out at least 46 airstrikes so far this year against al-Shabab, which is allied to al Qaeda and Africa’s most active Islamic extremist group.
Al Shabab, which is fighting to establish its version of Shariah law in Somalia, controls parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to stage deadly attacks in Mogadishu and other cities.
The US airstrikes have picked up dramatically since President Donald Trump took office and approved expanded military operations in the Horn of Africa nation.
The US has about 500 military personnel in Somalia and earlier this month opened a permanent diplomatic presence in Mogadishu.
Islamist militant group alShabab is fighting the UN-backed government in Somalia, and has carried out many attacks in the region. The group, allied to alQaeda, has been pushed out of most of the main towns it once controlled, but it is still a potent threat.