U.S. soldier killed in Somali ambush

An extremist ambush in Somalia on Friday killed one U.S. special operations soldier and injured four others. The U.S. military said its troops came under mortar and small-arms fire in a joint operation with about 800 Somali and Kenyan troops. The U.S. team provided advice, assistance, and surveillance to the mission. The Defense Department on Friday said 26-year-old Sgt. Alexander W. Conrad of Chandler, Ariz., died in the attack about 217 miles southwest of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Conrad was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group in Fort Bragg, N.C. The U.S. Embassy medical team in neighboring Kenya treated four other injured service members. One partner-force member also sustained injuries in the attack later claimed by Somali-based extremist group al-Shabaab. The U.S. casualty is the first in Africa since four service members died in an October ambush in Niger.