U.S. Says Airstrikes on Somalia Islamist Militants Kill Seven

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military said it conducted airstrikes that killed at least seven al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia as it increases its involvement in the war-torn Horn of Africa country.

Three “precision airstrikes” on Wednesday and Thursday targeted a location in Jilib, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu, U.S. African Command said on its website. The operation against the al-Shabaab militants was coordinated with Somali forces, it said, without giving further details.

The U.S., which already supported Somalia’s battle against al-Shabaab with drone strikes, has stepped up its involvement this year, in May announcing the first death of a U.S. service member in combat there since 1993. Al-Shabaab has been waging an insurgency in Somalia since 2006 in a bid to impose its version of Islamic law.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu at msheikhnor@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Karl Maier