Drone strikes by the United States military are “wiping out” Shabaab militants in Somalia, the head of the African Union (AU) mission in the country told AFP in an interview Friday.
The US has stepped up its operations in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, targeting the Al Qaeda linked Shabaab, which has fought for the last decade to topple Somalia’s internationally backed government, and a separate self-proclaimed branch of the Daesh terror group.
“These drone attacks and others are wiping out Al Shabaab in good numbers. And that is good to finish with the terrorism,” said Francisco Madeira, the chief of the 22,000-strong African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on the sidelines of the AU’s summit in the Ethiopian capital.
In recent months, US special forces and the Somali national army have killed scores in air strikes and ground assaults targeting Shabaab, including a Christmas Eve strike that left 13 dead.
The surge in activity comes after President Donald Trump last year loosened constraints on the US military in Somalia, allowing commanders to take action against suspected terrorists when they judge it is needed, without seeking specific White House approval.
The US Africa Command has had to defend itself against allegations that its forces have killed civilians, issuing a statement in November that said no civilians died in a raid three months prior despite media reports to the contrary.