The United States launched an airstrike in Somalia, killing more than 150 militants linked to al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist group al-Shabaab, following US intelligence on preparations for a large-scale militant attack, Reuters news agency reports the Pentagon to say.
The Saturday strike that was carried out by the use of both manned aircraft and unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones targeted al-Shabaab’s “Raso” training camp, a facility located about 120 miles north of the capital, Mogadishu.
The US military had been monitoring the camp for several weeks before the strike, and had gathered intelligence, including about an imminent threat posed by those in the camp to the US forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers, officials said.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James described the strike as “defensive” in nature.
“There was intelligence … these fighters would soon be embarking upon missions that would directly impact the U.S. and our partners,” James told reporters.
Somalia’s Foreign Minister Abdusalam Omer said the Somali intelligence agency had provided information about the camp to the United States in the run-up to the attack.
“There has to be intelligence on the ground for this to happen. Our intelligence had helped,” Omer told Reuters.
