BY LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say a senior leader of the al-Shabab extremist group in Somalia was killed in a U.S. airstrike in the southern part of the country over the weekend.

Officials say the leader was in a vehicle hit by a drone strike. Other group members were reportedly killed. Officials would not release the name of the al-Shabab leader. They say the strike was near the town of Dinsoor in the southwestern bay region.

The U.S. has been targeting the al-Shabab leadership in a series of strikes over the past few months. In late December, the Pentagon confirmed that a U.S. strike killed the intelligence chief Tahlil Abdishakur (‘taw-leel obdee-shawkoor’). And the group’s previous leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Somalia on Sept. 1.

Source: AP