U.S. drone strike targets al-Shabab in Somalia

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that on Jan. 31, the United States conducted an airstrike against the al-Shabab militant organization in Somalia.

"A little bit after 9 a.m. eastern time [Jan. 31] U.S. Special Operations Forces conducted a strike south of Mogadishu using unmanned aircraft and several hellfire missiles," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters. "This operation was a direct strike against the al-Shabab network and the terrorist group's chief of external operations and planning for intelligence and security."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.