--- description: U.S. airstrikes killed 62 militants in Somalia over the weekend, the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) said Monday. title: U.S. Airstrikes Kill 62 Al Shabaab Militants In Somalia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Somalia](/tag/somalia/) ## Somalia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Airstrikes Kill 62 Al Shabaab Militants In Somalia  by [Billy Perrigo](/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 17, 2018 12:46 PM CUT  by [Billy Perrigo](/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 17, 2018 12:46 PM CUT U.S. airstrikes killed 62 militants in Somalia over the weekend, the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) said Monday. Six airstrikes against the Al-Qaeda affiliated [al Shabaab](http://time.com/tag/al-shabaab/ "undefined") group were carried out near the capital Mogadishu on Saturday and Sunday. “At this time we assess these airstrikes did not injure or kill any civilians,” Africom said in a statement. The airstrikes are amongst the deadliest this year, and are part of a military escalation in the east African country led by the Trump Administration with the support of the Somali government and the African Union, which has security forces stationed there. > [](https://twitter.com/USAfricaCommand/status/1074596098562502656) Somalia’s U.N.-backed government is at war with al Shabaab, which controls parts of the country. The group is suspected of carrying out a [massive truck bombing](http://time.com/4983416/somalia-bomb-al-shabaab-terrorist-attack/ "undefined") in October 2017 which killed at least 587 people and wounded many more. The group also has a growing [presence in Kenya.](http://time.com/5463064/somalia-islamic-leader-killed-al-shabab-attack/ "undefined") “Alongside our Somali and international partners, we are committed to preventing al Shabaab from taking advantage of safe havens,” Africom said in a statement on Monday. More than 500 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Somalia. However the U.S. has said its long-term aim is to transfer responsibility for security to the Somali government. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5481292/al-shabaab-airstrikes-62-somalia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5481292/al-shabaab-airstrikes-62-somalia/"},"headline":"U.S. Airstrikes Kill 62 Al Shabaab Militants In Somalia","datePublished":"2018-12-17T12:46:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:17:22.550Z","description":"U.S. airstrikes killed 62 militants in Somalia over the weekend, the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) said Monday.","url":"https://time.com/5481292/al-shabaab-airstrikes-62-somalia/","keywords":["Somalia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Billy Perrigo","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/somalia/","name":"Somalia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5481292/al-shabaab-airstrikes-62-somalia/","name":"U.S. Airstrikes Kill 62 Al Shabaab Militants In Somalia"}}]}] ```