The United States military says it has killed two al-Shabab extremists in four airstrikes in Somalia.

A U.S. Africa command statement Sunday said the attacks eliminated checkpoints used by al-Shabaab to collect taxes to fund their violent campaign in Somalia.

The statement said two airstrikes on Saturday hit the Kunyow Barrow area, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu. Another strike was in the Awdeegle area, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mogadishu and a fourth was near Janaale, about 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.

The statement said no civilians were killed in the attacks.

With these four airstrikes, the U.S. military has carried out at least 16 such airstrikes this year in Somalia against al-Shabab, the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.
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