US says new airstrike in Somalia kills 8 al-Shabab fighters US says new airstrike in Somalia kills 8 al-Shabab fighters; a dozen strikes this year

JOHANNESBURG -- The United States military says it has killed eight al-Shabab extremists with an airstrike in southern Somalia.

A U.S. Africa Command statement says Friday's strike hit near Kobon, not far from the port city of Kismayo.

The U.S. says Kobon has been used to stage attacks against Somali forces. Its statement says no civilians were killed in the airstrike.

The U.S. military has carried out at least a dozen such airstrikes this year in Somalia against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.

The United States has dramatically stepped up airstrikes against al-Shabab since President Donald Trump took office. Experts say it will take more than airstrikes to defeat the extremists, who continue to carry out deadly attacks in the Horn of Africa nation and neighboring Kenya.