Six US airstrikes against Somalia extremists kill 62

Johannesburg, December 17 

The US military says it has carried out six airstrikes in the Gandarshe area of Somalia which killed a total of 62 al-Shabab extremist rebels.

In a statement issued Monday, the US military’s Africa Command said it carried out four strikes on December 15 in which 34 persons were killed and two more on December 16 which killed 28. 

All the air attacks were in the Gandarshe coastal area south of Mogadishu.

No civilians were injured or killed in the attacks, it said.

All six strikes were carried out in close coordination with Somalia’s government, it said.  The airstrikes were “conducted to prevent al-Shabab from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire, and recruit for future attacks,” it said.

Al-Shabab uses parts of southern and central Somalia to plot and direct extremist attacks, steal humanitarian aid, extort the local populace to fund its operations, and shelter radicals, said the statement. — AP