The U.S. military says it killed 62 Al-Shabaab militants in six air strikes on December 15 and 16 near the town of Gandarsh in Somalia's south-central Banaadir province.

The military's Africa Command (Africom) said four strikes were carried out on December 15, killing 34 militants, and two moretook place on December 16, in which 28 were killed.

"Africa Command and our Somali partners conducted these airstrikes to prevent terrorists from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire and recruit for future attacks," Africom said in a statement.

Al-Shabaab aims to establish a fundamentalist Islamist state in Somalia and routinely launches attacks on government buildings, hotels and restaurants.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa