US Military Conducts Operation Against Al

MOSCOW, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - US military has conducted an operation against the al-Shabaab militants group in Somalia, CNN reported, citing Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby.

'We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,' Kirby was quoted as saying.

On August 31, the al-Shabaab militants attacked the National Intelligence and Security Agency prison in Mogadishu. As previously reported, the explosive device went off near the NISA headquarters. Al-Shabaab claimed to be responsible for the attack.

The attack killed three guards and two civilians of Mogadishu, CNN reported. According to the Security Ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf, some 15 people were injured.

Somalia is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster. Food shortage remains a major issue for the country, where over 200 thousand children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, according to the UN.

Humanitarian workers in Somalia are under a constant threat of al-Shabaab attacks. In June 2013, al-Shabaab militants struck the main UN compound in the country's capital Mogadishu, killing eight local and international staffers, and forcing other UN staffers to remain in Kenya, where UN operations for Somalia are centered.

Al-Shabaab group has been fighting for over seven years in the country, attempting to impose an Islamic state in Somalia. In July, a US defense official admitted that the US military advisers had been covertly working in Somalia since 2007, and that Washington planned to expand its presence in the country.

The expansion of the American presence in Somalia coincides with the increasing efforts of the Somali government and African Union peacekeepers to crack down on the insurgents.