US airstrike kills more than 100 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia

Washington, Nov 22 : The airstrike carried out in coordination with Somali authorities left over 100 members of the al-Shabaab terrorist group dead, the US military informed.

"In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike in Somalia against an al-Shabaab camp on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at approximately 10:30 a.m. local Somalia time, killing more than 100 militants," Efe news quoted the US African Command (Africom) as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

The operation took place 125 miles northwest of the capital of Mogadishu, Africom said.

In the statement, the armed forces reiterated their intention to "use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats".

The US is collaborating with the Somali National Security Forces (SNSF) "targeting terrorists, their training camps and safe havens throughout Somalia, the region and around the world", Africom said.

The African country has in recent months suffered numerous terrorist attacks, including an attack using truck bombs carried out on October 14 in Mogadishu.

The US Army has intensified its efforts in the past few weeks in Somalia, staging assorted air attacks throughout November in which an undetermined number of terrorists have been killed.

According to local analysts, the internal problems of the Somali government and its distancing from the top army command has allowed the Islamic State and al-Shabaab to transform themselves into a significant threat for the country's stability and security.

Al-Shabaab, which affiliated itself with the international network of al-Qaeda in 2012, controls part of the territory in central and southern Somalia and aspires to install an Islamic state there.