Official : US, Somalia forces raid al-Shabab, kill several

United States and Somali military forces raided a rebel-held village in southern Somalia and killed several al-Shabab fighters, a senior Somali intelligence official said, as both countries step up efforts against Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group.

Somali commandos accompanied by US forces in two helicopters raided two locations, the official said. They included a detention center run by al-Shabab in Kunya-Barrow village in Lower Shabelle region, and an unknown number of detainees were freed.

Troops engaged a small number of extremist



fighters, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

US Africa Command spokesman Mark Cheadle said US forces conducted an “advise and assist mission” against al-Shabab with members of the Somali National Army in Kunya-Barrow. He gave no further details.

There were no US casualties, AFRICOM spokeswoman Jennifer Dyrcz added on Friday morning.

The al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab said via its Andalus radio arm that its fighters foiled an attempted raid by US and African forces.