MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – U.S. and Somali forces carried out a helicopter raid supported by drones near Jilib, Al Shabaab’s largest stronghold in southern Somalia, officials said on Sunday.
The Somali army said the operation targeted Hargeisa Yarey village, near Jilib, killing 15 militants and wounding eight others. Somalia’s defence minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi said the raid dealt a major blow to the Islamist group.
Al Shabaab gave a different account. The group said, via its affiliated media, the joint U.S.-Somali commando operation had failed. It said one civilian was killed by direct gunfire and several others were wounded, including people it said were injured by indiscriminate mortar fire on Jilib town.
The claims by both sides could not be independently verified, and neither provided evidence.
The raid followed another helicopter operation announced by Somalia’s government days earlier in the town of Bula Fulay. Officials said militants were killed, while Al Shabaab said its fighters repelled the assault and that only civilians died.
The operations come amid an increase in U.S. special operations and air strikes against Al Shabaab. The Somali government recently said a U.S. air strike on Dec. 10 killed the group’s explosives expert and lead engineer on that front, Abdullahi Osman.
That claim has not been independently verified. The same man has previously been reported by the federal government to have been killed several times, only to later reappear on the U.S. rewards list for wanted terrorists.
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