Airstrike kills 52 Al-Shabaab militants after ‘large group’ attacks Somali forces – US AFRICOM

20 Jan, 2019 08:28

At least 52 militants from the Somali jihadist group Al-Shabaab were killed in a US airstrike in the country on Saturday, the US military’s Africa Command has announced. It was called in response to Somali forces coming under fire from a “large group” of the jihadists near Jilib in Middle Juba region. The strike comes after the Al-Qaeda-linked group launched a daring assault on a hotel and business complex in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday, killing 21 people. Claiming responsibility, the Al-Qaeda affiliate blamed US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as motivation for the attack.