The US military carried out a drone strike over the weekend targeting a training camp run by Somali jihadist group al-Shabaab, north of capital Mogadishu over the weekend, killing more than 150 fighters, the Pentagon said on Monday.
“It was a successful strike,” said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis, adding US intelligence indicated the group was preparing for a “large scale attack” and posed a threat to US and African Union forces in Somalia.
“Initial assessments are that more than 150 terrorist fighters were eliminated,” he added.
The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent antagonist in Somalia, launching frequent attacks in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed government.
