(VOVworld) – The US Department of Defense confirmed Tuesday that twelve militants of Al-Shaban, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, were killed in US airstrikes in southern Somalia between Monday and Tuesday.

Members of al Shabaab parade at Ala Yaasir camp, outside of Somalia's capital Mogadishu.(Photo: Reuters)

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said the airstrikes were carried out by drones and that these militants pose an imminent threat to US military personnel. Last month, the US carried out an airstrike on an Al-Shabab training camp in Somalia, which the Pentagon said killed some 150 fighters.

Last week, the US Department of Defense confirmed that Hassan Ali Dhoore, a senior leader of Al-Shabab, was killed. Hassan Ali Dhoore was the mastermind of the deadly Christmas Day 2014 attack on the airport and the March 2015 attack on the Maka al-Mukarram Hotel, both in Mogadishu, Somalia. US citizens were among those killed in the attacks.