|
U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against al-Shabab in Somalia on Thursday, killing "several militants," according to the U.S. military. The drone strike hit targets in the Bay Region of Somalia, about 160 kilometers west of the capital, Mogadishu, Pentagon spokeswoman Audricia Harris told VOA. No civilians were killed in the strike, Harris said. According to a statement from U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), the strike occurred about 3 p.m. local time in Somalia in coordination with the Somali government. "U.S. forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats," Africa Command said. The strike comes less than a week after U.S. airstrikes targeted Islamic State (IS) fighters in the country's north. Jama Mohamed Qurshe, the chairman of the town of Qandala, told VOA Somali that the U.S. strikes last Friday hit a base for IS militants at Buqa village, about 60 kilometers south of his town, in the semiautonomous region of Puntland. A U.S. Africa Command official told VOA those two strikes killed "fewer than five" Islamic State fighters. They were the first U.S. airstrikes against IS militants in Somalia. 美国军方说，美军星期四对索马里的“青年党”进行了一次空袭，打死“几名激进分子”。 五角大楼发言人奥德丽西娅·哈里斯对美国之音说，这次无人机袭击击中了首都摩加迪沙以西大约160公里的拜州地区的目标。 | 
