MOGADISHU
Around 20 Al-Shabaab militants were killed on Monday in an airstrike carried out near the southern Somali town of Merca, a local official has said.
"We received reports that a foreign warplane had bombed an Al-Shabaab camp near Merca, leaving 20 militants dead and destroying cars and boats used by the group," Abdukadir Mohamed Sidi, governor of the Lower Shabelle region, told The Anadolu Agency.
He did not specify, however, the source of the reports or the origin of the warplane that struck the Al-Shabaab camp.
There has been no comment yet from Al-Shabaab regarding the reported airstrike.
Al-Shabaab has recently suffered several significant blows, losing most of its strongholds in southern and central Somalia to government and African Union troops.
Several group members have also recently been killed in U.S. drone strikes.
