After Somalia Truck Bombing, US Airstrikes Target Militants

[NewsReporter]

VOA - Arts and Entertainment

Medical personnel attend to a wounded child to be airlifted to the Turkish capital Ankara for treatment after Saturday's car bomb blast in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec. 29, 2019.

MOGADISHU - U.S. military officials say three airstrikes conducted Sunday against al-Shabab militants in Somalia have killed four militants.

The officials say the airstrikes in coordination with the Somali government targeted al-Shabab militants responsible for terrorist acts against innocent Somali citizens.

The airstrikes came a day after a truck bombing in Somalia's capital killed at least 78 people. While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, Somalia's president has blamed the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.

Wounded Victims of Somali Truck Bomb Attack Airlifted to Turkey

The aircraft also brought doctors to help treat the some 125 people injured in Saturday's blast, which happened when a vehicle packed with explosives detonated at a busy security checkpoint

U.S. Africa Command says an initial assessment concluded that two airstrikes killed two militants and destroyed two vehicles in Qunyo Barrow, and that one airstrike killed two militants in Caliyoow Barrow.
In a statement Sunday, the director of operations for U.S. Africa Command, Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler, says al-Shabaab is “a global menace and their sights are set on exporting violence regionally and eventually attacking the U.S. homeland.”