08 September - Source: Reuters - 193 Words The U.S. military said on Friday it had carried out an airstrike in Somalia against an al Qaeda-allied Islamist group and killed one militant, the second such strike this week in which a total of four fighters have died. The group, Al-Shabaab, is fighting to topple Somalia's Western-backed transitional federal government and impose its own rule on the Horn of Africa country.

In a statement, the U.S. military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) said it carried out the air strike on Thursday at 2:45 PM local time (1145 GMT). "The operation occurred near Baraawe, Somalia, about 270 kilometres southwest of the capital, Mogadishu,” the statement said. It did not say whether the killed fighter was a senior al Shabaab member or a low ranking militant.

On Tuesday U.S. forces also carried out an airstrike in Bay region, about 75 kilometres west of Mogadishu, killing three members of Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab has lost control of most of Somalia’s cities and towns since it was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011. But it retains a strong presence in parts of the south and centre and carries out gun and bomb attacks.