DHAKA: A US air strike has killed more than 150 al-Shabab militants in Somalia, the Pentagon says.

Spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the strike hit a training camp where a ‘large-scale’ attack was being planned.

‘We know they were going to be departing the camp and they posed an imminent threat to US and (African Union) forces,’ Captain Davis said, reports the BBC.

‘Initial assessments are that more than 150 terrorist fighters were eliminated,’ he added.

Davis said the strike, by both drones and manned aircraft, took place on Saturday and targeted Raso Camp, a training facility about 120 miles north of the capital, Mogadishu.

The camp had been under surveillance for some time, according to Davis. ‘There was a sense that the operational phase was about to happen,’ he said.

He said the group had neared the completion of specialist training to conduct ‘offensive operations’, but did not give any details about the alleged plans.

Al-Shabab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has continued to launch frequent attacks in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed government.

But Al-Shabab spokesman said that ‘the Americans are dreaming’ after US claims that a raid killed 150 fighters.

‘The Americans are dreaming. We never gather that many of our fighters in one place. We know the security situation,’ Abdulaziz Abu Mus’ab, the group’s military operations spokesman, told Al Jazeera in a phone call Tuesday.

‘Yes, the attack happened and it happened at the location they mentioned but the number they are telling the world is a lie,’ Mus’ab added.

BDST: 1422 HRS, MAR 08, 2016
RR