A U.S. Navy SEAL was killed Thursday fighting terror group Al Shabab -- Al Qaeda's third-largest affiliate -- in Somalia, U.S. officials told Fox News. 
 
 It appeared to be the first combat death of a U.S. service member in Somalia since 1993, U.S. Africa Command spokesman Patrick Barnes said. 
 
 Two other SEALs and an interpreter were wounded in the gunfight in Somalia, Fox News has learned; however, the Pentagon would not disclose the extent of the injuries due to privacy concerns. 
 
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 "U.S. forces were conducting an advise and assist mission alongside members of the Somali National Army" near Bari, about 40 miles west of Mogadishu, according to a statement from U.S. Africa Command. The mission involved the use of U.S. helicopters and a Navy SEAL assault force partnered with Somalis. 
 
 "This was their mission," said Pentagon spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis, referring to the Somali troops. 
 
 The SEALs were attacked "early" in the mission, not long after landing, and the Pentagon was still assessing if the mission -- targeting a "group of people" associated with attacks on Somalia's capital -- was a success. Despite a recent focus on the country by the Trump administration, the authority for the mission was given under orders issued by the Obama administration. 
 
 "What occurred last night...was not anything new," Davis said. 
 
 A Somali intelligence official confirmed the U.S. military operation to The Associated Press, saying extremist fighters mounted a stiff resistance against the soldiers. 
 
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 Al Shabab "presents a threat to Americans and American interests," the U.S. Africa Command statement said. 
 
 Somalia's new Somali-American president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, last month declared a new offensive against Al Shabab, which is based in Somalia but has claimed responsibility for major attacks elsewhere in East Africa. 
 
 In late March, the White House approved a Pentagon request to conduct offensive operations against Al Shabab in Somalia. This meant drone strikes and raids were given the green light to happen outside of self-defense, which was the previous policy under the Obama administration. 
 
 The Department of Homeland Security in March banned electronics larger than mobile phones on flights from some Muslim nations to the U.S. a year after Al Shabab attempted to bring down an airliner in Somalia using a bomb hidden inside a laptop. 
 
 The extremist group, which was chased out of Mogadishu years ago, but continues to carry out deadly attacks there, has vowed to step up the violence in response to the moves by Trump and Mohamed. 
 
 
 
 Pressure is growing on Somalia's military to assume full security for the country as the 22,000-strong African Union multinational force that has been supporting the fragile central government plans to leave by the end of 2020. 
 
 
 
 Fighters linked to ISIS are a relatively new and growing challenge in the north of the country, which has seen a quarter century of chaos since dictator Siad Barre fell in 1991. 
 
 
 
 The United States pulled out of Somalia after 1993, when two helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu and bodies of Americans were dragged through the streets. 
 
 However, there have been roughly 50 U.S. special operations troops based in the country since 2013. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 
 Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews 

 Story highlights The incident occurred 40 miles west of Mogadishu near the town of Barii 
 
 The US troops were part of an ongoing US military program to advise and assist Somali ground forces 
 
 (CNN) A US military member was killed and two others wounded in Somalia when they were attacked while on a mission advising Somali National Army forces, US Africa Command confirmed Friday. 
 
 The US service member killed in action was a Navy SEAL, a US defense official told CNN. 
 
 A US military official confirmed that this is the first US service member killed in action in Somalia since 1993, when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 18 American soldiers were killed in the Battle for Mogadishu. 
 
 The incident occurred Thursday during an operation against local al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab 40 miles west of Mogadishu in the Shebelle region. The wounded, including an interpreter who was also a US citizen, are receiving medical attention, another US defense official told CNN. The troops came under small arms fire. 
 
 The US troops were part of an ongoing US military program to advise and assist Somali ground forces. The mission was not part of the stepped-up effort in Somalia to conduct airstrikes and ground missions against terror targets. 
 
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 FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 file photo, hundreds of newly trained al-Shabab fighters perform military exercises in the Lafofe area some 18 km south of Mogadishu, in Somalia. The U.S. military... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 file photo, hundreds of newly trained al-Shabab fighters perform military exercises in the Lafofe area some 18 km south of Mogadishu, in Somalia. The U.S. military said Friday, May 5, 2017 that a service member has been killed in Somalia during an operation against... (Associated Press) 
 
 MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A U.S. service member has been killed in Somalia during an operation against the extremist group al-Shabab — the first U.S. combat death in the country in more than two decades — as the United States steps up its fight against the al-Qaida-linked organization in a country that remains largely chaos. 
 
 "We do not believe there has been a case where a U.S. service member has been killed in combat action in Somalia since the incident there in 1993," U.S. Africa Command spokesman Patrick Barnes said Friday. The United States pulled out of Somalia after that incident in which two helicopters were shot down in the capital, Mogadishu, and bodies of Americans were dragged through the streets. 
 
 In a statement, the U.S. Africa Command said the service member was killed Thursday during the operation near Barii, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Mogadishu. The statement said U.S. forces had been conducting an advise-and-assist mission with Somalia's military. 
 
 Al-Shabab via its Shahada News Agency said "an air landing operation by U.S. special forces was thwarted in Lower Shabelle province and a number of their soldiers were killed and wounded," the SITE Intelligence Group reported. 
 
 Both the United States and Somalia in recent weeks have declared new efforts against al-Shabab. President Donald Trump has approved expanded military operations against the extremist group, including more aggressive airstrikes and considering parts of southern Somalia areas of active hostilities. 
 
 A Somali intelligence official confirmed the U.S. military operation, saying U.S. forces in helicopters raided an al-Shabab hideout near the Somali capital on Thursday night and engaged with fighters. 
 
 The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the helicopters dropped soldiers near Dare Salaam village in an attempt to capture or kill extremists in the area. The official said the fighters mounted a stiff resistance against the soldiers. 
 
 Somalia's new Somali-American president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, last month declared a new offensive against al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia but has claimed responsibility for major attacks elsewhere in East Africa. 
 
 Also last month, the U.S. military announced it was sending dozens of regular troops to Somalia in the largest such deployment to the country in roughly two decades. The U.S. Africa Command said the deployment was for logistics training of Somalia's army. 
 
 The U.S. in recent years has sent a small number of special operations forces and counter-terror advisers to Somalia and has carried out a number of airstrikes, including drone strikes, against al-Shabab. 
 
 The extremist group, which was chased out of Mogadishu years ago but continues to carry out deadly attacks there, has vowed to step up the violence in response to the moves by Trump and Mohamed. 
 
 Aid groups have raised concerns about the new military efforts, saying civilians could be at risk as hundreds of thousands are displaced by a drought that threatens roughly half the country's population of 12 million. 
 
 Pressure is growing on Somalia's military to assume full responsibility for the country's security as the 22,000-strong African Union multinational force that has been supporting the fragile central government plans to leave by the end of 2020. 
 
 The U.S. military has acknowledged the problem. The AU force will begin withdrawing in 2018, and head of the U.S. Africa Command, Commander General Thomas Waldhauser, has said that if it leaves before Somalia's security forces are capable, "large portions of Somalia are at risk of returning to al-Shabab control or potentially allowing ISIS to gain a stronger foothold." 
 
 Fighters linked to the Islamic State group are a relatively new and growing challenge in the north of the country, which has seen a quarter-century of chaos since dictator Siad Barre fell in 1991.
– A Navy SEAL was killed and two other US service members were wounded in an attack on al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab in Somalia on Thursday, say US officials. US Africa Command says the casualties—including what is believed to be the first combat death of a US soldier in the country since 1993—occurred as forces were "conducting an advise and assist mission alongside members of the Somali National Army" some 40 miles west of Mogadishu, per Fox News. A Somali intelligence official tells the AP that the mission was to raid a terrorist hideout, but forces were met with heavy resistance from al-Shabab fighters after a helicopter dropped them nearby. An official tells CNN that the soldiers came under small-arms fire. The incident comes a month after the US military announced that 40 additional soldiers would join US troops in Somalia to train and assist the Somali National Army in its fight against al-Shabab.