US military airstrike kills eight Al Shabaab members

The US military says it has killed eight members of the Al-Shabaab extremist group in Gandarshe area, Somalia.

The US Africa Command statement said the airstrike occurred on Saturday near Gandarshe, a community outside Mogadishu. The statement added no civilians were involved.

According to the Command Unit, expanded operations will occur with the aim of keeping Al-Shabab from regrouping.

“The desired outcome is one in which terrorist organisations cannot destabilize Somalia and its neighbouring states, nor threaten the interests of the US and its international allies in the region,” read the statement

The strike came a week after the US troops were involved in a “self-defense airstrike” outside the Basra area.

The US military has carried out 40 airstrikes this year against the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, Africa’s most active Islamic extremist group, which controls parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to stage deadly attacks in Mogadishu and other cities.

The US airstrikes have picked up dramatically since President Donald Trump took office and approved expanded military operations in the Horn of Africa nation.