US air strike 'kills 150 Somali militants'
Spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the strike hit a training camp where a "large-scale" attack was being planned.
"We know they were going to be departing the camp and they posed an imminent threat to US and [African Union] forces," Captain Davis said.
"Initial assessments are that more than 150 terrorist fighters were eliminated," he added.
Mr Davis said the strike, by both drones and manned aircraft, took place on Saturday and targeted Raso Camp, a training facility about 120 miles (195km) north of the capital, Mogadishu.
The camp had been under surveillance for some time, according to Mr Davis. "There was a sense that the operational phase was about to happen," he said.
The group has said it carried out a string of recent attacks including a twin bombing at a busy restaurant in the Somali city of Baidoa last month.
