U.S airstrike kills IS terrorist in Somalia

A U.S. airstrike killed one terrorist in northeastern Somalia on Monday, military officials said.

The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement the U.S. forces conducted the airstrike in coordination with the Somalia government at about 3 p.m. local time.

"In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against ISIS, in northeastern Somalia on Nov. 27, killing one terrorist," AFRICOM said, referring to the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

The U.S. military vowed to sustain airstrikes by using all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats by partnering with African Union and Somali security forces.

"Our political and security goals in Somalia are the same -- a reconstituted Somali state at peace internally and able to address all threats within its territory," it said.

U.S. forces carried out a series of drone strikes in the past month in Somalia, targeting IS and Al-Shabaab fighters as the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping mission prepares to exit the country.

Somali and AMISOM forces have also intensified military operations against the insurgents, flushing them in their Lower and Middle Shabelle region bases amid an expected recall of 1,000 African Union troops by end of December.

source: Xinhua