Air Strike Kills Shebab Militants in Somalia

Missiles fired from an unidentified military aircraft struck Shebab targets in southern Somalia early on Thursday causing casualties, sources said.

According to traditional elders near Bardhere town in the southern Gedo region, at least two missiles struck vehicles believed to be carrying commanders of the Somali-led Al-Qaida affiliate.

"We heard two big explosions and the information we are getting indicates that vehicles were targeted close to a Shebab military base," said Abdiwahab Ali, an elder at a village close to the scene of the attack.

"Village residents are telling us a missile fired from an aircraft struck a vehicle and a nearby military camp belonging to Shebab," said Hassan Gesle, another elder.

Immediately after the attack the mobile phone network in Bardhere was cut off, making it impossible to reach Shebab commanders for comment.

Regional government officials confirmed the air strike but were unable to give details of who was targeted.

Ahmed Bare, Somali military officer in nearby Elwaq town, said that Shebab commanders have been leaving Bardhere, one of the few towns still held by the militants, ahead of a planned ground assault by Somali troops.

Last month Somalia's security agency claimed it carried out a night raid in Bardhere killing an unspecified number of Shebab commanders.

Also last month a Shebab assault on an African Union base in Lego left dozens of Burundian soldiers dead.

Neither the Somali military nor the African Union force in Somalia have military aircraft, but the U.S. has in recent years launched numerous drone strikes against Shebab leaders and said it was responsible for a September drone strike that killed the group's emir Ahmed Abdi Godane.