Three U.S. airstrikes kill seven al-Shabaab militants in Somalia

A joint Somali-U.S. security operation against al-Shabaab since Wednesday resulted in the killing of seven militants including a senior al-Shabaab leader in southern Somalia town of Jilib.

The Somali government said in a statement on Thursday that the operation was authorized by President Farmaajo and the security forces “in coordination with international partners” killed the militants who are responsible for multiple bombings in Mogadishu.

Authorities in #Mogadishu say that seven militants have been killed in a US airstrike in Jilib,a rich agricultural town in southern #Somalia pic.twitter.com/1dkzBPiBzO

— Abdulaziz Billow Ali (@AbdulBillowAli) August 17, 2017

The United States Africa Command also confirmed that “a series of three precision airstrikes killed the seven fighters” in coordination with Somali forces.

“U.S. forces work closely with Somali military forces against al-Shabaab in Somalia to degrade the al-Qaeda affiliate’s ability to recruit, train, and plot external terror attacks throughout the region and in the United States,” they said in a [statement](<
http://www.africom.mil/media-room/pressrelease/29815/u-s-conducts-three-strikes-against-al-shabaab>).

Al Shabaab has been able to carry out deadly bombings despite losing most of its territory to African Union peacekeepers supporting the Somali government.

The group’s insurgency aims to drive out the peacekeepers, topple Somalia’s western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam on the Horn of Africa state.