Maher Farrukh, an al-Qaida analyst for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute said that "AQAP and ISIS cooperate on a tactical level in central Yemen against al Houthi-Saleh forces, they often co-claim attacks and likely share some militants," and that "ISIS' continued presence in Yemen is likely sustained by its cooperation with AQAP, but it does not appear to be growing at this time." Somalia Military.com reported that on 3 November 2017, that a U.S. drone conducted two airstrikes against Islamic State in Somalia, at least six missiles were used which struck in Buqa, 37 miles north of Qandala, AFRICOM said in a statement that "several terrorists" were killed and that the strikes were carried out in coordination with Somalia's government; the strikes marked first time that the US has conducted airstrikes against ISS terrorists in Somalia. CNN reported that US drone aircraft conducted 5 strikes against al-Shabaab and ISS-linked militants between 9 and 12 November, killing 36 al-Shabaab and 4 ISIS terrorists. The US now estimates there are between 3,000 and 6,000 al-Shabaab fighters and less than 250 ISS operatives in Somalia. The US conducted a three strikes in al Bayda Governorate targeting ISIL in Yemen between 10 and 12 November 2017, killing 5 suspected militants. Sub-Saharan Africa Casualties ISIL On 22 January 2015, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones stated that the coalition airstrikes had degraded ISIL, including killing off half of their leaders in Iraq and Syria. In early February 2015, the Australian Defence Minister, Kevin Andrews, stated that more than 6,000 ISIL fighters had been killed in coalition airstrikes since they began, and that over had been recaptured; yet ISIL strength was estimated to have grown during this period to around 31,500 core fighters, including 3,000 fighters from Western nations. On 23 February 2015, U.S. General Lloyd Austin stated that over 8,500 ISIL militants had been killed by Coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. In early March 2015, General Lloyd repeated this statement, saying that "ISIS has assumed a defensive crouch" in Iraq, and that "We are where we said we would be," in relation to the airstrikes. This was in contrast to Jordan's claim that its airstrikes alone had killed 7,000 ISIL militants in Iraq and Syria over the course of 3 days, from 5 to 7 February 2015. In June 2015, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that over