Ground troops and airstrikes killed more than 20 suspected Al-Shabaab fighters in southern Somalia, state news reported, citing a local official.
Awdhegle town official Mohamed Aways said on radio that the brunt of the overnight attack — involving three warplanes and “infantry” — lasted about 30 minutes, according to the state-run Somali National News Agency.
Awdhegle is located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
It comes days after the U.S. military claimed to have killed as many as 150 members of the Al-Shabaab militant group using manned and unmanned U.S. aircraft elsewhere in the East African nation.
That attack happened Saturday, 120 miles north of Mogadishu at a training site called “Raso Camp,” according to Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis.
However, Al-Shabaab denied the Pentagon report in in a short statement posted on the group’s Twitter account.
“Harakat Al Shabaab Al Mujahideen denies the claims of killing 150 fighters in recent airstrike, as was reported by the Pentagon,” the group said.
Peter Cook, another Pentagon spokesman, said Saturday’s attack was carried out to safeguard “our African Union Mission” in Somalia and that “the fighters who were scheduled to depart the camp posed an imminent threat” to the mission.
He added, “The removal of these fighters degrades Al-Shabaab’s ability to meet the group’s objectives in Somalia, including recruiting new members, establishing bases, and planning attacks” on U.S. and African Union forces.
