Aerial view of the Pentagon
On June 8, four officials in the US military told CNN TV that a US service member was killed and four others were injured during a training mission in southern Somalia. According to the CNN, the US service members came under attack by mortars and small arms from unknown gunmen in the area where they were training Somali troops.
A US Department of Defense (DoD) representative confirmed to France Press Agency (AFP) that one US service member was killed and four others were injured as a result of an attack in Somalia and revealed that one Somali soldier was injured in the same attack.
The injured US service members were medevacked to a base of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Djibouti, according to the Russian news outlet Sputnik.
Reportedly, the al-Qaeda-affiliated group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the Somali al-Shahada news agency, the radical group attacked a camp of the US military in the area of Bulugudu around the southern city of Kismayo.
In May of 2017, al-Shabaab killed a US Navy SEAL in a similar attack while he was on a mission advising the Somali military.
Since the beginning of this year, the AFRICOM has conducted a series of airstrikes against al-Shabaab in different parts of Somalia. However, it appears that this approach has failed to limit the influence of the al-Qaeda-linked group.