MOGADISHU, Somalia  

Somali special forces killed eight al-Shabaab militants overnight in the country’s Lower Shabelle region, state media said Tuesday.

“Somali security forces conducted an overnight operation in Daru Salam village in Lower Shabelle and killed eight members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group,” the Somali National News Agency reported.

Adow Mohamed, a Somali National Army captain in Lower Shabelle, confirmed the operation to Anadolu Agency by phone.

“Our special forces alongside our international partners conducted an operation against al-Shabaab in Daru Salam in the Lower Shabelle region after we received intelligence and killed eight al-Shabaab fighters,” Mohamed said.

Meanwhile, al-Shabaab claimed it had killed one U.S. serviceman and wounded two others.

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), which is targeting al-Shabaab in Somalia, have not commented on the incident so far.