US military launches airstrike killing al-Shabab fighter

The United States military on Tuesday conducted an airstrike targeting a militant from an al-Qaeda allied terror group al-Shabab in Qunyo Barrow, Somalia.

US Africa Command in a statement said that the airstrike was carried out in coordination with the government of Somalia, reported Al Jazeera.

The director of operations for the command, Major General William Gayler, said though the militant was killed, there were no civilian casualties.

Al-Shabab is a militant group based in East Africa, which has been designated as a terrorist group by Australia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. It usually launches attacks on Somalia's fragile government which is backed by 20,000-strong African Union force-AMISOM and the United Nations.

Gayler said that the raid is an example of the pressure US Africa Command places on armed networks.

The military attack comes just days after the terrorists carried out an attack on a military base in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region. Al Shabab claimed that around 50 soldiers and two of its fighters were killed in the attack.

The terrorist group is responsible for a string of attacks in Somalia that have claimed the lives of scores of people. At least 10 people lost their lives and dozens were injured when a car bomb exploded at a crowded mall in the business district of Hamarweyne here in February.

( With inputs from ANI )