Dozens of al-Shabaab militants killed in US military action

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A soldier salutes the American flag: The military only gives vague information about the deployment in Somalia

Photo: Lexie West/ US AIR FORCE/AFP

In the East African crisis-ridden country of Somalia, the US military says it has killed around 30 fighters from the Islamist terrorist militia Al-Shabaab.

The attack took place on Friday around 260 kilometers northeast of the capital Mogadishu near the city of Galcad, the US military command center responsible for Africa (Africom) said on Saturday.

The attack served to support the Somali army.

After a complex and intensive attack by more than 100 attackers, their soldiers were involved in heavy fighting with the terrorist group.

The fighting took place in a remote area.

Africom therefore assumes that no civilians were harmed.

Somalia's government announced on Friday that at least seven soldiers and almost 100 al-Shabaab terrorists had been killed in an attack on a military base in the central Somali region of Galguduud, which also includes Galcad.

According to the government, the target of the attack was a US-trained Somali commando force known as the Danab.

The military is reluctant to give details

According to the government, the attack was preceded by two serious suicide attacks.

The military regained control of the area after the fighting, it said.

Al-Shabaab, on the other hand, had said through propaganda media that it had killed dozens of soldiers.

Initially, the number of victims could not be independently verified.

In consultation with the government, the US military repeatedly attacks al-Shabaab targets in Somalia – mostly with unmanned drones.

Information on the units involved and the methods and devices used would "not be published in order to ensure the security of the operations," according to Africom.

The crisis-ridden state on the Horn of Africa, with around 16 million inhabitants, has been rocked by terrorist attacks and other acts of violence for years.

mak/dpa