US military planes bombed an Islamist-held town in Somalia near the Kenyan border overnight killing at least four civilians, local elders said Monday.

"It was later in the night -- around 3.00 am -- when a US aircraft dropped three bombs into the Dhoble town. They fired at three targets, including two houses and four civilians were killed," said elder Abdullahi Sheikh Duale.

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a spokesman for the Islamist movement confirmed the attack.

"I can confirm to you that the Americans bombed the town and hit civilians targets thinking that they were Islamist hideouts. They used an AC 130 plane," Robow told AFP.

If confirmed, this would be at least the third time the US military will have conducted operations inside Somalia since 2007.

The US military's Combined Joint Task Force/Horn of Africa is based in Djibouti and patrols the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

Since the Islamists were ousted, they have been carrying out attacks against government officials, Ethiopian forces -- who are backing the Somali government -- and African Union peacekeepers. Most attacks have been around the capital Mogadishu.

PHOTO CAPTION

File picture shows Somali soldiers in Mogadishu.

AFP