U.S. Strike Kills Two Senior Shebab Members in Somalia
A United States military strike hit a vehicle carrying senior members of an al-Qaida-linked militant group in Somalia on Monday, killing at least two people including the group's top explosives expert, a militant and a government intelligence official said.
A senior U.S. military official told The Associated Press that there was a counterterrorism strike against a target in Somalia Monday but would give no further details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to discuss the strike publicly.
An al-Shebab member who gave his name as Abu Mohamed said one of those killed was al-Shebab's top explosives expert, known as Anta. He said a drone fired at the car in Somalia's Middle Juba region. It was not clear how Mohamed would know it was a drone strike, except that he said no attack helicopters were seen.
A Somali intelligence official in Mogadishu said the attack occurred as al-Shebab members went to intervene in a clan dispute.
Earlier this month, United States Navy SEALs raided a coastal Somali town to take down a Kenyan al-Shebab member. The SEALs withdrew before capturing or killing their target. The target of that attack — Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, known as Ikrima — was identified as the lead planner of a plot by al-Shebab to attack Kenya's parliament building and the United Nations office in Nairobi in 2011 and 2012.
Somalia has seen several military attacks — often reported as drone strikes — in recent years.
Al-Shebab militants attacked the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi, in neighboring Kenya, on Sept. 21 with guns and grenades, killing at least 67 people. Al-Shebab promised more attacks on Kenyan soil unless Kenya withdraws its troops from Somalia.
Source: Associated Press
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