US Troops Wounded in Somalia During Clash With al-Shabaab

US service members came under attack in the early stage of an operation against al-Shabaab near the Somali capital of Mogadishu, US Department of Defense spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said in a briefing on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, US Africa Command said a US service member was killed on May 4 in a Somali military-led operation.

"There were wounded," Davis added. "It happened in the early phase of the mission."

The spokesperson added that the attackers were quickly neutralized.

Davis said that the killed service member was the first US combat death in Somalia since early 1990s.

The spokesperson said the operation, which was conducted against an al-Shabaab facility, was carried out under the authorities provided to the Defense Department in 2013.

At present, about 50 US Special Operations Forces provide advice and assistance in Somalia, according to the Pentagon.

Somalia has been experiencing violence since the country devolved into civil war in the early 1990s. The state's collapse provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab. The group has been staging numerous attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.