US Strikes Al-Shabab in Somalia for First Time in Six Months

WASHINGTON - Somali commandos coming under attack from the al-Shabab terror group got some help from above, for the first time in months, in the form of a U.S. airstrike.

The Pentagon late Tuesday confirmed U.S. forces were behind the single strike near Galkayo, about 580 kilometers north of the capital of Mogadishu, which was first announced by Somali officials earlier in the day. A Pentagon official told VOA the strike was authorized under existing authorities to defend U.S. partner forces and came even though no U.S. troops were on the ground. “U.S. forces were conducting a remote ‘advise and assist’ mission in support of designated Somali partner forces,” U.S. Defense Department spokesperson Cindi King said. “There were no U.S. forces accompanying Somali forces during this operation.”