MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Unmanned US drones fired two missiles into an area controlled by militants in central Somalia’s Mudug region where fierce clashes between government troops bolstered by regional paramilitary forces and fighters of the Islamist group Al-Shabaab continued over the past days, military officials said on Friday.
The air strike struck an area between Hareri Dhere and Qay’ad villages in central Somalia’s Mudug region early on Friday morning, two military officials leading an offensive against militants have told Somaliguardian.
It has come after militants halted army advance, with US air support, on rural villages in the restive central Somalia region.
The military officials, who requested not to be named, did not say if there were militants killed in the strike.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters that Friday’s air raid was carried out in support of Somali forces near the village of Qay’ad in Mudug region.
It is the second US military strike in the war-torn country in six months since Joe Biden took office in January.
In a statement, Galmudug authorities confirmed the air strike, saying it had targeted a base home to Al-Shabaab fighters between the villages of Qay’ad and Hareri Dhere.
Contact us: info@somaliguardian.com