The U.S. military said it killed “several militants” while conducting an airstrike in Somalia on Thursday against al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al Shabab.

The strike targeting al-Shabab occurred at approximately 3 p.m. local time in the Bay Region, about 100 miles west of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. U.S. forces carried out the operation in coordination with Somalia’s federal government, according to a press release from the United States Africa Command.

Al Shabab, which is based in Somalia and pledged allegiance to al Qaeda in 2012, “is dedicated to providing safe haven for terrorist attacks throughout the world” and “has publicly committed to planning and conducting attacks against the U.S. and our partners in the region,” the press release stated.

“U.S. forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats,” the press release added.

The operation comes one week after U.S. forces conducted its first airstrikes against ISIS in Somalia. However, the main target of U.S. airstrikes in Somalia is al Shabab.

U.S. forces have conducted well over a dozen airstrikes targeting al Shabab this year since U.S. President Donald Trump signed a directive in March giving the military authorization to conduct offensive counterterrorism airstrikes in Somalia against the jihadist group. Previously, the U.S. military had only been able to launch airstrikes against al-Shabab fighters in self-defense situations when African Union or Somali government troops accompanied by American advisers were under attack.

Clan warlords battling for power carved up Somalia following the collapse of a military dictatorship in the early 1990s. After years of interim authority, an internationally backed federal government was installed in 2012. In February, the East African country elected its first president in decades, whose victory offered a ray of hope for residents.

But the federal government has failed to assert central authority over the entire nation which, combined with high youth unemployment, has created an opening for piracy and for armed groups such as al Shabab, whose name means “the youth.”

Al Shabab, which emerged in 2006 from the now-defunct Islamic Courts Union, launched its own insurgency against major cities in Somalia in 2009, seizing the capital and much of southern Somalia until it was pushed out by domestic and international forces around 2012.

Although the group lost control of most cities and towns, al Shabab continues to dominate in many rural areas of southern Somalia and is reportedly becoming increasingly present in the northern region. However, Somalia experts have told ABC News that the group is struggling to recruit new members.

Al Shabab has been blamed for carrying out the deadliest single attack in Somalia’s history last month, though there was no official claim of responsibility. The massive truck bombing in the capital left more than 350 people dead and hundreds of others wounded. The Oct. 14 attack could be an indication of the power the extremist group still wields over the Horn of Africa nation.

KAMPALA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — The Ugandan military on Thursday said it is ready to deploy 5,000 troops in Somalia outside the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) mandate for an all-out offensive operations against the Al-Shabaab militants.

Brig. Richard Karemire, the military and defense spokesperson, told Xinhua that Uganda as a Pan-Africanist country is ready to send the troops as long as the international community commits resources for the operation.

“We are always ready to deploy such a number and even more as a country and Pan-Africanists. We need some support somewhere,” said Karemire.

Karemire said there are many rules to operate under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which sometimes may hinder the elimination of the militants.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is reported to have told Donald Yamamoto, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs in September that Uganda is ready to deploy additional 5,000 troops to strengthen the military operations of the AMISOM.

Museveni told Yamamoto that the east African country would only send more troops to Somalia if the international community commits to regular funding, donates military equipment, force enablers and multipliers such as attack helicopters for the operations against the insurgents.

The comments by the Ugandan military come shortly after the Special Representative of the African Union Chairperson for Somalia, Francisco Madeira announced on Tuesday that some 1,000 soldiers from the 22,000 strong force will be withdrawn from Somalia by Dec. 31.

AMISOM is comprised of troops drawn from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Uganda provides the bulk of the force.

MOGADISHU — African Union peacekeeping troops will start withdrawing from Somalia next month, says the head of the AU mission in the country.

Francisco Madeira told a news conference in Mogadishu that 1,000 soldiers from the five troop-contributing countries — Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti — will depart.

“As a result of this, troop movements have started in different parts of the country and will continue for the coming weeks,” Madeira said Tuesday. “This is a process of realignment to effect the reduction in numbers and also begin the handover process of national security responsibilities to the Somali national security forces.”

Members of the AU mission, known as AMISOM, have warned for over a year they may pull their troops from Somalia. AMISOM has been helping Somali governments battle militant group al-Shabab since 2007.

Madeira said the withdrawal will be conducted with caution to ensure that the security of the Somali people is not comprised.

“Our drawdown and transition must be gradual, conditions-based, responsible and done in a manner that does not compromise the safety and security of the Somali people,” he said.

He said, “We’ll exit this place when the SNA [Somali National Army] is ready to take over, when the SNA feel that we can now leave.”

The announcement to reduce troops comes a day after AMISOM announced an operation to flush out al-Shabab militants from the Lower Shabelle region and secure main supply routes in the area.

Paul Williams, an associate professor at George Washington University who is writing a book about AMISOM, says the troop reduction was not unexpected.

“The plan was always to reduce by 1,000 troops and add an additional 500 police by December 31st, 2017. Then there would be additional reductions and potentially reconfigurations by October 2018,” he said.

New military offensive

Madeira reiterated that AMISOM will be part of the much publicized offensive against al-Shabab in collaboration with the Somali National Army.

“We as AMISOM are aware of these preparations and we are going to work side by side with the government to defeat al-Shabab,” he said. “We are going to fight al-Shabab in all fronts, I’m not going to tell you which specific fronts so that al-Shabab does not run away from there but you will be seeing.”

Madeira said areas of upcoming operations will include Mogadishu and its surroundings, and urged the public to support the troops.

“Even if tomorrow or this afternoon or the day after tomorrow you see some other bombs blasting here in Mogadishu don’t worry because we are dealing with an invisible enemy and it has infiltrated some of these places but this is going to be stopped,” he said.

No additional Ethiopian troops

Madeira, who is from Mozambique, denied media reports that additional Ethiopian troops entered Somalia. He said troops who entered Somalia last week were just part of a routine rotational exercise.

“It just happens that troops that come from Uganda fly in, but the troops that come from Ethiopia, they can come through the border, because they can just drive, and people with other intentions are saying Ethiopians are amassing into Somalia,” he said.

The president of Somalia recently visited Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti, seeking support for the promised offensive against al-Shabab.

The government promised the offensive following the deadly October 14 truck bomb explosion in Mogadishu that killed 358 people, with 56 others missing and presumed dead.