...
the personification of Somali state failure...snuffies after US and local forces on the ground came under attack in southern Somalia, the US Africa Command said Saturday.
No US or Somali forces were killed or injured in the attack, an AFRICOM front man, Nate Herring, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. The airstrike was carried out Friday in self-defense after snuffies were "observed maneuvering on a combined patrol," while the US also responded with "indirect fire," the front man said.
The confrontation occurred about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of the port city of Kismayo
...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region..., the US Africa Command statement said. Two other al-Shabaab snuffies were killed by Somali forces "with small arms fire during the engagement," it said.
The operation was Somali-led, the AFRICOM front man said. There was no immediate comment from Somali authorities.