An Islamist-held town in southern Somalia has been hit by three missiles, fired by a US plane, local elders say.

The US bombed the area a year ago, trying to target Islamists, and residents say it was the same plane but the US authorities have not commented.

Six people were killed in the air strikes on Dhoble town and 20 wounded.

Somalia's Islamist insurgents seized the town last week and one of their leaders Hassan Turki was reportedly in the area over the weekend.

"We woke up with a loud and big bang and when we came out we found our neighbour's house completely obliterated as if no house existed here," local resident Fatuma Abdullahi told the BBC.

Regrouping

Islamist spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow said the US was trying to hit Islamist hideouts in the area.

"The Americans bombed the town and hit civilian targets, thinking that they were Islamist hideouts. They used an AC-130 plane," he told the AFP news agency.

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