Washington, Jan 27 (TIWN) A US military operation in Somalia has killed a number of Islamic State (IS) members, including a key leader of the terror group, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced.

"On January 25, on orders from the President, the U.S. military conducted an assault operation in northern Somalia that resulted in the death of a number of ISIS members, including Bilal-al-Sudani, an ISIS leader in Somalia and a key facilitator for ISIS's global network. Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group's operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan," the official release of the US Department of Defense quoted Austin as saying.