US strike kills 26 Shabaab fighters in Somalia

The US military has stepped up its air campaign against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia in recent days, with officials on Friday saying another 26 "terrorists" had been killed.

The latest air strike, which occurred in the Hiran region of central Somalia on Thursday, came as violence in the capital Mogadishu flared.

According to US Africa Command (AFRICOM), the strike killed 26 "terrorists."

It did not provide further detail but such strikes are usually conducted by drones.

The strike brings the toll of Shabaab militants killed in recent days to 81, with 20 killed on February 25, and another 35 killed a day earlier.

Such strikes "maintain pressure on al-Shabaab and disrupt its planning cycle and degrade its ability to mass forces and coordinate attacks against the Somali people," AFRICOM's deputy intelligence director Brigadier General Gregory Hadfield said in a statement.

But on Thursday in Mogadishu, a Shabaab car bomb exploded, killing at least 19 people.

Shabaab fighters were ...