​
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/02/us-military-conducts-operation-against-al-shabaab-in-somalia/
​
ARMED FORCES
​​
US targets leader of al-Shabaab with Somalia drone strike
Published September 02, 2014
FoxNews.com
WASHINGTON – A U.S. drone targeted the leader of the Al Qaeda-linked
al-Shabaab group in a strike in southern Somalia on Monday, a senior U.S.
defense official told Fox News.
Officially, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby would not confirm that the
strike, the results of which are still being assessed, had been successful.
"We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional
information as and when appropriate," he said in a statement. There was no
immediate comment from al-Shabaab.
A senior Somali official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also told The
Associated Press that a U.S. drone targeted al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi
Godane as he left a meeting of the group's top leaders. The official told
AP that intelligence indicated Godane "might have been killed along with
other militants."
Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, is the group's spiritual leader
under whose direction the Somali militants forged an alliance with Al Qaeda.
The official said that the strike took place in a forest near Sablale
district, 105 miles south of Mogadishu, where the group trains its
fighters. The governor of Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, Abdiqadir
Mohamed Nor, told The Associated Press that as government and African Union
forces were heading to a town in Sablale district, they heard something
that sounded like an "earthquake" as drones struck al-Shabaab bases.
"There was an airstrike near Sablale, we saw something," Nor said.
After the U.S. strike Monday night, masked Islamic militants arrested
dozens of residents suspected of spying for the U.S. 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 U.S. has carried out several airstrikes in Somalia recent years.
A U.S. missile strike in January killed a high-ranking intelligence officer
for al-Shabab, and last October a vehicle carrying senior members of the
group was hit in a U.S. strike that killed al-Shabab's top explosives
expert.
The U.S. action comes after Somalia's government forces regained control of
a high security prison in the capital that was attacked Sunday by seven
heavily armed suspected Islamic militants who attempted to free other
extremists held there. The Pentagon statement did not indicate whether the
U.S. action was related to the prison attack.
Somali officials said all attackers, three government soldiers and two
civilians were killed. Mogadishu's Godka Jilacow prison is an interrogation
center for Somalia's intelligence agency, and many suspected militants are
believed to be held in underground cells there.
The Somali rebel group al-Shabaab, which is linked to Al Qaeda, claimed
responsibility for the attack that shattered a period of calm in Mogadishu
after two decades of chaotic violence. The attack started when a suicide
car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate of the prison,
followed by gunmen who fought their way into the prison.
It was al-Shabaab gunmen who attacked the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi,
Kenya, with guns and grenades last September, killing at least 67 people.
Al-Shabaab had threatened retaliation against Kenya for sending troops into
Somalia against the extremists. Godane said the attack was carried out in
retaliation for the West's support for Kenya's Somalia invasion 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. But the group is
still able to launch lethal attacks -- often involving militants on suicide
missions -- within Mogadishu, the seat of government.
Somali military officials last week launched a military operation to oust
al-Shabab from its last remaining bases in the southern parts of Somalia.
However, on Saturday the town of Bulomarer, which is about 70 miles south
of Mogadishu, was seized from militants after hours of fighting.
Fox News' Justin Fishel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Received on Tue Sep 02 2014 - 13:00:32 EDT