“We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide   additional information as and when appropriate,” Rear Adm. John Kirby,   the Pentagon’s press secretary, said in a statement.

However US officials told NBC News that a military drone launched Hellfire   missiles at at least two vehicles in a remote area of southern Somalia, with   al-Shabaab’s top leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, believed to have been the   target.

Godane – the leader of the al-Shabaab Islamist movement – is believed to be   behind last year’s Nairobi mall attack in which 67 people were killed.

It come a day after al-Shabaab rebels carried out a car bomb and gun attack   against an intelligence headquarters in central Mogadishu, leaving at least   seven militants and five others dead.

Al-Shabaab rebels have targeted key areas of the Somali government or the   security forces in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities –   who are backed by the African Union’s 22,000-strong AMISOM force – that they   are winning the war against the Islamist fighters.

The Shabaab are fighting to topple Somalia’s internationally-backed   government, and regularly launch attacks against state targets, as well as   in neighboring countries that contribute to the AU force.

Source: The telegraph