The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has confirmed that US airstrikes have killed more than a dozen al-Shabaab militants in Somalia this week.
VOA first reported the strike on Monday.
AFRICOM said in a Wednesday press release that it attacked al-Shabaab terrorists "who are actively attacking the Somali National Army" in a remote area near Thidun, Somalia, on Sunday.
"The command's initial assessment is that he killed 13 al-Shabaab terrorists in the attack, with no injuries or fatalities," AFRICOM said.
A military official in central Somalia told his VOA by phone on Monday that a US airstrike had killed 14 of his al-Shabaab fighters in Hiran, central Somalia.
Somali forces captured the group's main stronghold in the region outside the town of Mahas and destroyed their hideouts, he added.
Last week, AFRICOM said it carried out airstrikes outside Beledweyne, the capital of the Hiran region, which borders Ethiopia. AFRICOM said four al-Shabaab terrorists were killed in airstrikes carried out in support of the Somali National Army.
Abdulrahman Sheikh Azari, director of the Mogadishu-based Center for Analysis and Strategic Studies, told VOA that the United States is "part of ongoing US strategic policy and regional concerns." said it was re-elevating its role in Somalia. President Joe Biden has promised to return the small US military presence that former President Donald Trump withdrew. , following Mohammed's pledge to fight al-Shabaab on all fronts.
Daniel Fernado, associate director of the Nairobi-based Farsight Africa Group, said AFRICOM has carefully selected its targets and has taken actions that have little potential for collateral damage to civilians. He said it only participates and, on the other hand, eliminates high-value resources. Al Shabab.
He added that Washington was concerned about al-Shabaab expanding its scope of operations to include Ethiopia, but that the airstrikes in Somalia were part of al-Shabaab's recent expansion into Ethiopian territory. He added that he did not believe it was related to the aggression.
