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Shabaab deaths in U.S. drone strikes cross 300 as 62 felled in 48 hours

SIXTY TWO Al-Shabaab militants were killed in six US drone strikes in Gendershe, some 51 km south of the capital Mogadishu in the last two days, the U.S Africa Command has said raising the number of Al-Shabaab militants killed by drone strikes this year to over three hundred.

In a statement Monday, AFRICOM said it conducted four precision strikes on the militants in Gendershe Saturday killing 34 Al-Shabaab militants.

“To support the Federal Government of Somalia’s continued efforts to degrade al-Shabaab, U.S. forces conducted a total of four (4) precision airstrikes targeting al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Gandarshe, Somalia, December 15, 2018,” the statement read in part.

Following the strike, AFRICOM said, 34 militants were killed while the second one on Sunday in the same locality killed another 28 militants.

With six strikes in two days, the drone strikes now heading to 40 since the beginning of the year makes 2018 one of the deadliest years for Al-Shabaab.

The strikes comes amid a planned ground offensive by AMISOM in Middle Jubba. AMISOM said Sunday it was planning a major ground attack in collaboration with Jubbaland forces to flush out Al-Shabaab militants.

The militant group has in the last years launched deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu during the December period.