US soldier seriously injured in car bomb in Somalia, official says

A U.S. soldier was wounded and three members of Somalia’s special forces were killed on Monday after a car bomb exploded in a small village.

Reuters reported that at least two other Somali soldiers were wounded in the blast, according to officials. The attack occurred about 40 miles away from Kismayu, a regional capital and major port city.

“Two soldiers of Danab [special] forces died and two others were wounded. A U.S. officer was seriously wounded,” a Jubaland official told Reuters.

The bomb had apparently been placed outside of a military base operated by Somalia’s military, according to the official. A spokesperson for al Shabaab, a local Islamist militant group, reportedly claimed credit for the killings and claimed much higher casualty numbers in a statement also alleging that several armored vehicles were destroyed.

U.S. forces are working with Somalia’s military against ISIS-aligned militants in the region, including al Shabaab, and have carried out numerous strikes this year against militant forces in the country.

A strike in July near the town of Timirshe in the northeast of Somalia killed several militants, according to U.S. officials.