US airstrike kills Al-Shabaab terrorist in Somalia

Mogadishu, Sep 9 (IANS) The United States said its military carried out an airstrike that killed one terrorist in Somalia, media reports said.

The US Africa Command (Africom) said on Friday that the Thursday afternoon precision airstrike occurred near Barawe, Somalia, about 270 km southwest of the capital, Mogadishu.

Africom said the attack was coordinated with the Somali government as a direct response to actions by Al-Shabab actions, which has carried out attacks on African Union peacekeeping and Somali forces, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The US conducted this operation within the parameters of the authorities granted by the President in March 2017, which allows US forces to conduct lethal action against Al-Shabaab within a geographically-defined area in support of partner forces in Somalia," Africom said.

"Al-Shabaab has publicly committed to planning and conducting attacks against the US and our partners in the region," it said.

The militant group, which wants to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state, most recently claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Mogadishu and southern Somalia.

Africom vowed that the US forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats.

"This includes partnering with AMISOM and Somali National Security Forces (SNSF); targeting terrorists, their training camps and safe havens throughout Somalia, the region and around the world," it said.

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