U.S. strikes Somali militant camp in bid to kill al Shabaab leader
Tue Sep 2, 2014 9:30pm GMT
* Unclear if Ahmed Abdi Godane killed in the attack
* Strike hit location where militant leaders were meeting
* U.S. says used Hellfire missiles, laser-guided munitions (Adds comments
from Pentagon and other U.S. officials)
By Abdi Sheikh
MOGADISHU, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A U.S. military airstrike in Somalia has
targeted the leader of the Islamist militant group al Shabaab, Somali and
U.S. officials said on Tuesday, but they added it may take time to determine
whether Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed.
The United States launched Hellfire missiles and laser-guided munitions to
destroy an al Shabaab encampment in south-central Somalia late on Monday,
the Pentagon said. It said both manned and unmanned aircraft were used in
the operation.
Some U.S. officials privately said they believed Godane was killed in the
strike, but the U.S. government was not ready to confirm that - even as it
acknowledged the significance his death would have in the fight against the
al Qaeda-linked group.
"If he was killed, this is a very significant blow to their network, to
their organization, and, we believe, to their ability to continue to conduct
terrorist attacks," said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.
Since taking charge in 2008, Godane has restyled the group as a global
player in the al Qaeda network - a transformation that was highlighted when
it killed at least 67 people in an attack on a Kenyan shopping mall in
September last year.
The group has also been carrying out guerrilla attacks in parts of the
Somali capital Mogadishu, where it is fighting the Western-backed government
of Somalia.
Godane's close associate, Ahmed Mohamed Amey, was killed by a U.S. air
strike in January.
After the Westgate mall attack, Navy SEALS stormed ashore into the al
Shabaab stronghold of Barawe, where a regional official said the latest air
strike was also launched, but they failed to capture or kill their target.
The Somali government and al Shabaab officials could not be immediately
reached for comment.
SOMALI MILITANTS BOMBARDED
"There was an air strike at a base where senior members of al Shabaab had a
meeting last night," a senior intelligence official who gave his name as
Ahmed told Reuters on Tuesday.
"So far Godane's death is a strong rumour that may or may not turn to be
true. What we know is that the militants were bombarded. However, it is
difficult to know how many of them or who particularly died," he added.
Abdiqadir Mohamed Sidii, governor of the Lower Shabelle region in southern
Somalia where the strike occurred some 245 km (150 miles) southwest of the
capital Mogadishu, said he believed Godane and other senior al Shabaab
members had been killed.
"We understand a U.S. drone killed Ahmed Abdi Godane and other seven senior
members last night near Hawaay area around Barawe town," Sidii told Reuters
by phone.
Sidii did not say how he got the information on the attack, given the
location is in an area still under al Shabaab control.
Residents in Haaway said they heard loud explosions late on Monday in an
area they described as a densely forested.
Al Shabaab, which aims to impose its own strict version of Islam, controlled
Mogadishu and the southern region of Somalia from 2006 to 2011. It was
forced out of the capital by peacekeeping forces deployed by the African
Union.
African Union forces launched a new offensive this year to drive the
Islamists out of towns and other areas they still control, in response to a
surge in gun and bomb attacks in Mogadishu by the militants whose fighters
have targeted legislators and the presidential palace. (Additional reporting
by Feisal Omar and George Obulutsa in Nairobi, Phil Stewart and Mark
Hosenball in Washington; Editing by James Macharia, Alison Williams, Pascal
Fletcher and Ken Wills)