US Military Targeted Shebab In Somalia Drone Strike

 The US military carried out a drone strike targeting al-Shebab militants in Somalia on Monday, a senior administration official told AFP.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed media rep

orts that American forces had carried out the aerial attack with unmanned robotic aircraft but did not specify who in Shebab had been targeted.

“We share Somalia’s concern about al-Shebab,” the US official said.

In Somalia, witnesses recounted hearing aircraft overhead and a loud explosion, with missiles striking a car believed to be carrying senior leaders of Shebab in the country’s south.

The air strike comes after a raid earlier this month by US Navy SEALs at the southern port of Barawe that failed to capture or kill the alleged target, a senior Shebab leader called Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, also known as Ikrima.

The United States has access to a network of airfields in East Africa, flying Reaper drones out of a base in Djibouti and in southern Ethiopia.

In May, a US drone crashed south of Mogadishu.