A US airstrike in Somalia this morning killed five Al-Shabaab fighters after a team of Ugandan soldiers partnered with a small number of USA troops came under fire from more than a dozen Al-Shabaab militants, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
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Five militants were killed in the operation, the official said.
“They came under fire from the al-Shabab militants and we called in an airstrike in their de-fense”, Davis told reporters Thursday at the Pentagon.
About 50 American troops are serving in Somalia to advise and assist AMISOM troops, Davis said.
American troops have been supporting their Somali counterparts and their allies in their fight against al-Shabaab for a few years.
This is the second kinetic incident with the U.S.in Somalia this week.
Al Shabaab was also behind deadly attacks in Kenya and Uganda, which both contribute troops to an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
The U.S. forces had been advising Ugandan soldiers with the African Union mission (AMISOM) during an operation against an illegal taxation checkpoint when the Ugandans got into a firefight with 15-20 al Shabaab fighters. AFRICOM, the US military command center for Africa, denied USA soldiers were in the lead. The U.S. State Department designated al-Shabab a terrorist group in 2008 and has given the Somali government financial and military support to combat it.
Mumin is now leading a growing pro-ISIS group in Somalia, notes Voice of America (VOA).
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Abdi Hassan Hussein, the former Director of the US -backed Puntland Intelligence Agency (PIA) has reportedly warned that the number of pro-ISIS jihadists in Somalia has grown.
