US airstrikes kill 13 Al Shabaab militants in Somalia



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A US air strike killed 13 ISIS fighters on Wednesday in the semi-autonomous Somalia region of Puntland, the US military announced three days after the death of another. attack.

The US military has intensified its campaign of air strikes in Somalia since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, claiming to have killed more than 800 militants in two years.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, recruited recruits in Puntland, although experts say that the scale of its strength is unclear and that it remains a small player compared al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group that once controlled much of Somalia.

The US Command for Africa (AFRICOM) said last Thursday that the latest strike was targeting a camp of the Somali Islamic State located in the Golis Mountains.

"At present, it is estimated that the May 8 air strike killed 13 terrorists," the paper said.

AFRICOM said in April that it killed Abdulhakim Dhuqub, identifying him as the deputy head of the Islamic State in Somalia.

Somalia has been plunged into civil war and Islamist insurgency since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew one dictator and then clashed with each other.

Al Shabaab was expelled from the capital Mogadishu in 2011, but retains a strong presence in parts of southern and central Somalia and has often struck the Islamic State.

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