In a statement, the European-based command said the latest raid was conducted in coordination with the Somali government and hit “multiple IS-Somalia targets”.

The IS group’s Somalia operation is relatively small compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked extremists Al-Shabaab, but it has been gaining strength in semi-autonomous Puntland.

“The air strike occurred southeast of Bosasso, Puntland, in Northeastern Somalia,” the Africom statement said.

“Africom’s initial assessment is that multiple IS-Somalia operatives were killed and no civilians were harmed,” it said.

The latest strike follows a similar operation two days earlier that Africom said complemented “a larger counter-terrorism initiative” underway in Somalia.

And it follows US strikes in February, which Puntland authorities said had killed “key figures” in IS, without giving further details.