On Sunday, U.S. warplanes killed about 150 newly-minted terrorists at a training facility in Somalia, near Mogadishu.
The airstrikes hit a Shabab outpost at what U.S. officials said they believed was a graduation ceremony, according to the New York Times. The targeted terrorists were “preparing an attack against American troops and their regional allies in East Africa,” which is believed to have been a “large-scale attack.”
The American warplanes dropped precision-guided bombs and missiles on the terrorists who “were outdoors in formation,” according to a U.S. official.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. was watching the site, called Raso Camp, for several weeks. He said it appeared that the training was ending and the operational phase of a suspected attack was about to start.
When a bomb tore through a Somali commercial jetliner in February, Shabab claimed responsibility. The group also claimed responsibility for the mass shooting at the Westgate Shopping Mall attack in September, 2013. More than 60 people were shot to death and over 175 people were wounded in that attack.
Shabab – which means “youth” in Arabic – pledged allegiance to al Qaeda in 2012. The two allied terrorist organizations appear to be in competition with ISIS for title of most horrific source of terror on Earth.
