U.S. drone strike kills more than 150 at Al Shabab training camp in Somalia
The Pentagon says the fighters were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or U.S. personnel.
John Moore / GETTY IMAGES
A Hellfire missile hangs from a U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), at a secret air base in January. The Pentagon says it has been watching the Al Shabab training camp in Somalia for weeks.
Published on Mar 07 2016
Lolita C. BaldorTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon says a U.S. drone strike on Saturday struck a training camp for Al Shabab fighters in Somalia who were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or U.S. personnel.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, says the strike hit Raso Camp, killing more than 150 fighters. He says the U.S. was watching the camp for weeks. He says it appeared that the training was ending and the operational phase of a suspected attack was about to start.
Davis says the training camp, about 190 kilometres north of Mogadishu, was destroyed.
The Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab has been linked to a number of attacks, including the detonation of a bomb aboard a commercial passenger jet last month that forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu.
The Pentagon says the fighters were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or U.S. personnel.
John Moore / GETTY IMAGES
A Hellfire missile hangs from a U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), at a secret air base in January. The Pentagon says it has been watching the Al Shabab training camp in Somalia for weeks.
Published on Mar 07 2016
Lolita C. BaldorTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon says a U.S. drone strike on Saturday struck a training camp for Al Shabab fighters in Somalia who were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or U.S. personnel.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, says the strike hit Raso Camp, killing more than 150 fighters. He says the U.S. was watching the camp for weeks. He says it appeared that the training was ending and the operational phase of a suspected attack was about to start.
Davis says the training camp, about 190 kilometres north of Mogadishu, was destroyed.
The Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab has been linked to a number of attacks, including the detonation of a bomb aboard a commercial passenger jet last month that forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu.
