Airstrikes 'on the rise' against extremists in Somalia

WASHINGTON - A spate of US airstrikes against extremists in Somalia is the latest in a dramatic uptick in US attacks in the Horn of Africa nation since President Donald Trump took office.

The weekend strikes, which killed 62 people, targeted al-Shabab militants who want to establish their own version of repressive Shariah law in Somalia. A Somali intelligence officer said the strikes on Gandarshe, a town along the Indian Ocean coast, were aimed at foiling a planned extremist attack.

The United States conducted 17 airstrikes in Somalia between 2007 and 2015, according to Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal who has tracked airstrikes in several countries for more than a decade. But those numbers have sharply escalated in recent years.