Somalia news: US military conducts airstrike outside Mogadishu killing 11 al-Shabaab militants

The US military says it has killed 11 al-Shabaab extremists with a pair of airstrikes outside Somalia's capital.

The US Africa Command statement says December 19's airstrikes were in self-defense after al-Shabaab fighters attacked forces with the Somali military and the African Union peacekeeping mission. The statement says US personnel were present "in an advisory capacity" and that no U.S., Somali or AU member was harmed.

The US says the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab has been using the Beled Amin South area about 40 kilometers (24 miles) northwest of Mogadishu to plan attacks on the capital. The raid was meant to "clear known al-Shabaab facilities."

The US military has sharply increased the number of airstrikes against al-Shabaab in Somalia since President Donald Trump took office. This year has seen 47 airstrikes.