(Bloomberg) -- Al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked four towns near the border between Somalia and Ethiopia, the first major assault by the Islamist group since Somalia appointed a new president in May.

Towns including Aato and Yeed were targeted in the raids by the al-Shabaab group, according to people who declined to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak to the media. Dozens of members of an Ethiopian paramilitary police unit, known as the Liyu, were killed in the raids, according to two of the people. It wasn’t immediately clear whether any al-Shabaab fighters died.

The office of Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre ordered the country’s security forces to swiftly respond to the situation at the border, though it didn’t provide a death toll for the attack.

Barre on Wednesday met with senior members of an African Union-led armed force fighting al-Shabaab in Somalia and said he would help launch a new offensive against the militants in order to reach those in need of humanitarian assistance. The region is facing its worst drought in four decades.

Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane didn’t respond to questions about the attack.

SomaliMemo, a pro-al-Shabaab media outlet, also reported the attacks, claiming the militant group seized ammunition and military equipment.

The attack comes after US air strikes against al-Shabaab killed two militants. It also follows an attack by the Islamist group in May on an African peacekeeping base southwest of the capital Mogadishu, which killed at least 10 soldiers from Burundi.

In May, President Joe Biden authorized the US military to send Special Operations troops back to Somalia on a “persistent” basis to revive a counter-terrorism mission that was ended during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

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