Somali Islamist faction al-Shabaab confirmed US claims of a series of drone strikes against one of their training camps, but insisted US claims of “over 150” militants killed was far overstated, and simply “American propaganda.”
The Shabaab spokesman insisted that the group never has that many fighters concentrated into a single spot because of the threat of imminent attacks like the one the US launched over the weekend.
Witnesses confirmed that there were major explosions and a lot of fire, but were unable to confirm or deny the death toll. Somali commanders claimed that over 200 fighters were certainly killed in the incident, but didn’t provide any evidence for that.
The Pentagon claimed the attack on the base was “defensive in nature,” and that they believe the militants were an imminent threat against US troops, though they did not say where those US troops actually were.