US air strikes 'kill militants in Somalia'

The US military says it has killed 35 armed al-Shabab militants in Somalia.

The US Africa Command said the attack took place as the Islamist militants were moving between locations in the central Hiran region on Sunday.

There's no independent corroboration of the claim.

US strikes in support of the UN-backed Somali government have increased, but the head of the US army's Africa Command, General Thomas Waldhauser, said recently that air strikes alone won't defeat al-Shabab.

He called on Somali government forces to up their commitment.