US carries out strike against ISIS in Somalia

BOSASO, Somalia - The US military carried out an air strike Saturday against ISIS in the Puntland region of Somalia, killing several ISIS operatives, Africa Command said.

In a statement, the European-based command said the latest raid was conducted in coordination with the Somali government and hit “multiple ISIS-Somalia targets.”

The ISIS group’s Somalia operation is relatively small compared to the al-Qaeda-linked extremists al-Shabaab, but it has been gaining strength in Puntland.

“The airstrike occurred southeast of Bosasso, Puntland, in Northeastern Somalia,” the AFRICOM statement said.

“AFRICOM’s initial assessment is that multiple ISIS-Somalia operatives were killed and no civilians were harmed,” it said.

The latest strike follows a similar operation two days earlier that AFRICOM said complemented “a larger counter-terrorism initiative” underway in Somalia.

And it follows US strikes in February, which Puntland authorities said had killed “key figures” in ISIS, without giving further details.

With AFP