Johannesburg, Feb 9 (AP) The United States military says it has killed eight al-Shabab extremists with an airstrike in southern Somalia.

A US Africa Command statement says Friday's strike hit near Kobon, not far from the port city of Kismayo.

The US says Kobon has been used to stage attacks against Somali forces. Its statement says no civilians were killed in the airstrike.

The US military has carried out at least a dozen such airstrikes this year in Somalia against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.

The United States has dramatically stepped up airstrikes against al-Shabab since President Donald Trump took office. Experts say it will take more than airstrikes to defeat the extremists, who continue to carry out deadly attacks in the Horn of Africa nation and neighboring Kenya. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)