Reuters / Paulo Whitaker
The U.S. military says it carried out six airstrikes in Somalia that killed a total of 62 al-Shabaab extremist rebels. In a statement Monday, the U.S. military’s Africa Command said it carried out four strikes on Dec. 15 in which 34 people were killed and two further strikes two days later that killed a total of 28. All the attacks were in the Gandarshe area south of the capital, Mogadishu. The statement said no civilians were injured or killed. All six strikes were carried out in close coordination with Somalia’s government, the statement said, adding that the airstrikes were “conducted to prevent al-Shabaab from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire, and recruit for future attacks.” The U.S. military has carried out at least 46 airstrikes so far this year against al-Shabaab, which is allied to al Qaeda and Africa’s most active Islamist extremist group.