(Previous Incident Code: SOM174)

The US military reported on the same day that it had carried out an airstrike in the vicinity of Jilib against al Shabaab fighters. It was not clear which of two locally reported targets – or indeed both – were struck.

Unusually, AFRICOM made no mention of the number of militant fighters it believed had been harmed: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab terrorists in the vicinity of Jilib, Somalia, on Nov. 30. We are assessing the results of the airstrike, however, we currently assess no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this airstrike,” the release read.

Ahmed Ali Sheikh, a reporter with VOA, later tweeted: “Somali officials say an airstrike targeting Al-Shabaab has destroyed a communication center for the group in the vicinity of Jilib”.

According to Ilwareed, there were two strikes. While the first targeted a communications centre, a second “targeted the home of an al-Shabaab official named Abu Abdalla, located in the southern outskirts of Jilib district. Government forces confirmed the time when the officer’s house was bombed, and said the entire house and vehicles were destroyed.”

Mareeg said that four al Shabaab fighters died when the communications centre was hit, though its report suggested a ground attack: “The center announced last week that it has been upgraded with modern equipment to improve its communication with al-Shabaab leaders. The center was almost completely destroyed after being targeted by several rocket propelled grenades, according to credible sources.”

Mareeg also said that it appeared that the militant target of the second strike had escaped injury: “A second blast in the same district of Jilib targeted at Abu Abdalla’s parents’ home in the outskirts. At the time of the bombing, no [al Shabaab] official was present but a variety of military equipment and weapons were destroyed.”