Somalian Islamist rebels say Ahmed Abdi Godane was in vehicle but refuse to say whether he was among six militants killed
A Somali government soldier fires at al-Shabaab militants after rebels attacked Mogadishu’s Godka Jilacow prison to free insurgents. Photo: Feisal Omar/Reuters
Al-Shabaab‘s top leader was travelling in one of two vehicles hit by a US military strike, a member of the Somali Islamist insurgent group has confirmed.
The spokesman would not say whether Ahmed Abdi Godane, leader of the Somali rebels, was among the six militants killed on Monday night.
The two vehicles were heading toward the coastal town of Barawe, al-Shabaab’s main base, when they were hit, Abu Mohammed said on Tuesday.
US military forces attacked the extremist al-Shabaab network in Somaliaon Monday, the Pentagon confirmed.
A witness in Somalia described ground-shaking explosions caused by the strike. Somali government and African Union forces heading to a town in the district heard what sounded like an “earthquake” as al-Shabaab’s bases were hit, the governor of Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, Abdiqadir Mohamed Nor, said.
“There was an airstrike near Sablale. We saw something,” Nor added.
Al-Shabaab attacked the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 67 people a year ago this month and the US targeted the planners of the bloody assault.
The US drone strike was launched as Godane left a meeting of the group’s leadership, said a senior Somali intelligence official. Intelligence indicated Godane “might have been killed along with other militants”, said the Somali official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The attack took place 105 miles (170km) south of Mogadishu, where al-Shabaab trains its fighters, he said.
Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, is al-Shabaab’s spiritual leader under whose direction the Somali militants forged an alliance with al-Qaida. In 2012 the US offered a reward of up to $7m (£4.2m) for information leading to his arrest.
US commanders said they are waiting to determine the outcome of Monday’s attack. “US military forces conducted an operation in Somalia today against the al-Shabaab network. We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,” said the Pentagon press secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby.
After the US strike in a forest near Sablale district, south of Mogadishu, masked Islamist militants in the area arrested dozens of residents they suspected of spying for the US and searched nearby homes, a resident said.
“Mass arrests just started, everyone is being detained,” said Mohamed Ali, who lives in Sablale district. “They even searched nearby jungles and stopped the nomads transporting milk and grass to the towns for questioning.”
The US has carried out several air strikes in Somalia in recent years.
A US missile strike in January killed a high-ranking intelligence officer for al-Shabaab and last October a vehicle carrying senior members of the group was hit in a US strike that killed al-Shabaab’s top explosives expert.
The latest US action comes after Somalia’s government forces regained control of a high-security prison in the capital that was attacked on Sunday. Seven heavily armed suspected al-Shabaab members had attempted to free other extremists held there.
Somali officials said all seven attackers, three government soldiers and two civilians were killed. Mogadishu’s Godka Jilacow prison is an interrogation centre for Somalia’s intelligence agency and many suspected militants are believed to be held in underground cells there. The attack started when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate of the prison and gunmen then fought their way into the prison.
Al-Shabaab attacked the shopping centre in Nairobi last year to punish Kenya for sending troops into Somalia against the extremists. Godane said at the time that the mall attack was carried out in retaliation for the west’s support for Kenya’s intervention in Somalia and the “interest of their oil companies”.
Al Shabaab is now mostly active in Somalia’s rural regions after being ousted from the capital by African Union forces in 2011.
Somali military officials launched a military operation last week to oust al-Shabaab from its last remaining bases in the southern parts of Somalia. On Saturday the militants withdrew from the town of Bulomarer, located about 70 miles (110km) south of Mogadishu, after hours of fighting.
Source: The Guardian
