US carries out airstrike against al-Shabaab in Somalia

The US military says it has carried out an airstrike against al-Shabaab in Somalia as the Trump administration quietly steps up efforts against the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.
Pentagon spokesperson Major Audricia M Harris said the strike occurred on Sunday afternoon Somalia time and the US was assessing the results.
She did not call it a drone strike. Somali officials have said the US has carried out several drone strikes in recent years against the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab.
The airstrike follows one in June that the US said killed eight Islamic extremists at a rebel command and logistics camp in the country’s south. Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said Somali and partner forces destroyed the training camp near Sakow, in the Middle Juba region.
President Donald Trump has approved expanded military operations against al-Shabaab, including more aggressive airstrikes and considering parts of southern Somalia areas of active hostilities. The US in April announced it was sending dozens of regular troops to Somalia in the largest such deployment there in roughly two decades, saying it was for logistics training of Somalia’s army.
The Horn of Africa nation is trying to rebuild after more than two decades as a failed state, and its chaos helped in the rise of al-Shabaab. Now a new threat has emerged in the country’s north with fighters claiming alliance to the Islamic State group.