NAIROBI (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Thursday it had killed 24 militants in an air strike on Wednesday in the vicinity of Shebeeley in central Somalia.

The military’s Africa Command (Africom) said in a statement that no civilians were believed to have been killed or injured in the air strike in the Hiran region.

The attack comes less than two weeks after the U.S. military launched a strike that killed 52 Islamists who had attacked a Somali military base earlier that day.

Al Shabaab retains a strong presence in parts of southern and central Somalia. The U.S. military has stepped up air strikes over the last year in support of a U.N.-backed government there, which has been fighting against the Shabaab insurgency for years.