US forces say they have killed nine militants in targeted airstrikes in southern Somalia.

The US Africa Command (Africom) says it took action in response to an attack by al-Shabab militants on Somali government forces on Monday, 40km (25 miles) from the port city of Kismayo.

"We currently assess no civilians were injured or killed in this air strike", Africom said in a statement.

Africom was established in 2007 to run all of the US's military operations in Africa. It is unclear how many active missions it currently has, but US media reported that it had carried out a total of 674 operations across the continent in 2014.