Somali-US air strike kills 12 militants: information ministry
The strike on Adan Yabaal, 220 kilometres (140 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu came as Al-Shabaab fighters raided the key town used as a base by Somali military commanders.
Growing attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked group, including one on President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's convoy, are fuelling worries of a jihadist resurgence after militants were forced back in recent years.
The strike on Wednesday night by Somali armed forces and the US Africa Command "aimed to neutralize the threat posed" by Al Shabaab, the information ministry said in a statement posted on X.
"The targeted strike hit a site used by the militants as a gathering and hideout," it said. "Preliminary reports indicate that 12...operatives, including senior leaders, were eliminated."
Somali government forces took control of Adan Yabaal from Al-Shabaab in December 2022 during the major offensive backed by African Union peacekeeping forces.
On Wednesday, Al-Shabaab launched a dawn raid on the town, with bombs loaded on trucks detonating before militants fought their way into the town, a military official said.
The official said the army was getting reinforcements from nearby positions to defend the town, but Al-Shabaab claimed its fighters had overrun the Somalia military and controlled Adan Yabaal.
AFP was unable to confirm those claims.
Two local residents told AFP that militants had taken Adan Yabaal.
The president had visited the town recently, with state media reporting he had met with military commanders to review the ongoing military offensive against Al-Shabaab.
In the southwest, Somali forces and allies killed 35 militants around Baidoa town in the early hours of Thursday, after they attempted to attack an army base there, the ministry said.
Earlier this month, Al-Shabaab fired multiple mortar rounds near Mogadishu's airport, disrupting international flights.
Halane camp -- a fortified compound that houses the United Nations, aid agencies, foreign missions and the headquarters of the African Union's Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) -- was also targeted.
The group has seized key locations in Middle and Lower Shabelle, coastal regions on either side of Mogadishu.
A bomb blast that narrowly missed the convoy of President Mohamud in March underscored that Al-Shabaab again poses a risk in the capital itself.
Al-Shabaab has been fighting the government for 15 years, but the African Union-led peacekeeping force helped push the jihadists onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Tribune
a day ago
- Daily Tribune
European leaders back Putin-Trump-Zelensky meeting
AFP | European leaders on Saturday expressed support for a three-way summit between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia's Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump, after a US-Russia summit failed to produce a ceasefire. A statement, signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, insisted on maintaining pressure on Russia until peace was achieved, including through sanctions. Friday's Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska ended without the US president extracting concrete commitments from Putin to halt Russia's invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022. "We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia's war economy until there is a just and lasting peace," said the statement. The European leaders also insisted Moscow "cannot have a veto" on Ukraine joining the European Union or NATO. Russia has made clear it will not tolerate Kyiv's membership of the defence alliance. But the leaders said they were "ready to work ... towards a trilateral summit with European support". European leaders had been uneasy over Trump's diplomatic outreach to Putin, arguing that Zelensky should have been involved in the Alaska summit. In a separate statement, Starmer praised Trump's efforts as bringing "us closer than ever before to ending Russia's illegal war in Ukraine". But Macron, writing on X, cautioned against what he said was Russia's "well-documented tendency to not keep its own commitments". He called for any future peace deal to have "unbreakable" security guarantees. He also argued for increased pressure on Russia until "a solid and durable peace" had been achieved. The European leader welcomed what they called "security guarantees" made by Trump without giving details. A diplomatic source told AFP that Trump had offered Ukraine guarantees similar to NATO membership, but without it joining the alliance.
Daily Tribune
a day ago
- Daily Tribune
Putin hails North Korean troops as ‘heroic' in letter to Kim
AFP | Seoul Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed North Korean troops sent to fight in Ukraine as 'heroic' in a letter to Kim Jong Un, North Korean state media reported yesterday. In a letter marking the anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule, Putin recalled how Soviet Red Army units and North Korean forces fought together to end Japan's colonial occupation. 'The bonds of militant friendship, goodwill and mutual aid which were consolidated in the days of the war long ago remain solid and reliable even today,' Putin said in a letter revealed by North Korean state media. 'This was fully proved by the heroic participation of the DPRK soldiers in liberating the territory of Kursk Region from the Ukrainian occupationists,' he said, according to news agency KCNA. 'The Russian people will keep forever the memories of their bravery and self-sacrifice.' Putin added that the two countries would continue to 'act jointly and effectively defend their sovereignty and make a significant contribution to establishing a just and multi-polarised world order.' Russia and North Korea have been forging increasingly closer ties, with the two countries signing a mutual defence pact last year, when Putin visited the reclusive state. In April, North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had deployed a contingent of its soldiers to the front line in Ukraine, alongside Russian troops. South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said Pyongyang sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia's Kursk region in 2024, along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems. Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said. The letter from Putin came alongside a visit by a Russian delegation to Pyongyang, where the speaker of the Duma thanked Kim for sending 'excellent soldiers' to Ukraine, KCNA reported.
Gulf Insider
2 days ago
- Gulf Insider
Houthis Launch Another Failed Attack On Israel's Ben Gurion Airport
Yemen's Houthis are not letting up on their attacks on Israel or Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea, on Thursday once again launching a ballistic missile targeting Ben Gurion airport international airport in Tel Aviv. The Shia militant group's spokesman said it launched a 'Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile' targeting the country's lone major international hub, the group's military spokesman Yahya Saree described. The Houthis say they are continuing to act in support of the Palestinians, despite having paused their attacks during a two-month Gaza ceasefire that ended in March. As the Gaza war resumed, so did Houthi acts of aggression. 'A missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the' air force, Israel's army said on Telegram, and there have been no reports of casualties. According to Times of Israel citing military officials, Houthi drones also targeted the south connected with the same new attack wave: In a statement Tuesday, the Iran-backed group claimed to have launched six drones at Israel, targeting 'vital targets' in Haifa, the Negev Desert, Eilat and Beersheba. 'The operations successfully achieved their objectives, thanks to Allah,' the Houthis claimed. The IDF reported shooting down one drone off the coast of Eilat, which did not set off sirens in Israel's southernmost city because it posed no threat. The other five drones likely fell short before reaching the country's borders, as many Houthi projectiles have previously. The first inbound missiles had been detected shortly after 4am local time, setting off air sirens in various parts of Israel. Some local reports say that residents of central Israel on Thursday discovered fragments of an interceptor on or near train tracks between Ganot and Hahagana – which resulted in the railway being temporarily shut down. Israel's military launched major attacks on Yemen's Hodeidah port several weeks ago, but this and prior waves of major strikes have done little or nothing to deter Houthi resolve to inflict punishment on Israel for its military operations in Gaza, which as resulted in an immense civilian death toll. At this point over 60,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in the Gaza War, but the enclave's health authorities do no distinguished between armed militants and civilians in their casualty count.
