The chief spokesman of the Somali government, Ismael Mukhtar Omar, reported in a tweet that an al Shabaab compound in Jilib had been destroyed by a US airstrike. AFRICOM did not declare the strike at the time, though did later confirm the action on February 3rd/4th.

According to Omar’s initial tweet, “In the early morning of January 29th, The Federal Government of Somalia in coordination with and supported by the US Government, conducted an airstrike inside the al-Shabaab-controlled city of Jilib. One al-Shabaab occupied compound was destroyed in the strike.”

Omar also noted that “This week has seen a number of successful military operations in and around the al Shabaab stronghold of Jilib.”

Along with a declared US strike on the town on January 27th, this indicated additional joint Somali-US actions in the area around this time.

AFRICOM confirmed this on February 3rd, issuing a press release which noted that “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a series of operations to disrupt al-Shabaab terrorists in various locations in southern Somalia, Jan. 23-29…

“As a result of these operations we currently assess that one (1) al-Shabaab terrorist was killed in the vicinity of Jilib and two (2) al-Shabaab compounds were destroyed; one in Jamaame and one in Jilib. Due to operational security and force protection considerations, it prevented issuing a press release immediately. ‘We assess these compounds were used by al-Shabaab militants to organize and plan violent terrorist actions against innocent Somali citizens,’ said Hadfield. We currently assess no civilians were injured or killed as a result of these airstrikes.”

Responding to a request for clarification on dates, an AFRICOM official told Airwars by email on February 4th that “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab operations in the vicinity of Jilib, Somalia, on Jan. 29.  As a result of this airstrike, we currently assess that one (1) al-Shabaab terrorist was killed and one (1) al-Shabaab compounds were destroyed.”