Confirmed! US air strike kills al-Shabab leader in Somalia

The United States has confirmed the death of a key Somali militant leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, who had been targeted in a U.S. airstrike earlier in the week.

Godane

 According to the White House and Pentagon, Godane, a co-founder of the al-Shabab terrorist network in Somalia and Kenya was killed Monday in an attack carried out by U.S. drones and other aircraft.

Addressing to reporters at the NATO summit in Wales, US President, Barack Obama, cited Godane’s death as the result of the U.S. government’s “very systematic and methodical approach” in combating al-Shabab, al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other radical networks.

He added: “That deliberation allows us to do it right. But, have no doubt, we will continue and I will continue to do what is necessary to protect the American people.”
U.S. military officials had said that they were trying to kill Godane in Monday’s strike on a Shabab compound in southern Somalia. But they had been cautious about asserting the mission was successful, mindful of reports of other al-Qaeda leaders who had been killed in drone attacks, only to resurface later.

Godane took public responsibility for the September 21, 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in which his men killed dozens of people, taking hostage and holding Kenyan security forces at bay for days.

Godane has been described as a particularly ruthless jihadi leader who eliminated several rivals within al-Shabab, either by killing them or forcing them to go underground.

Al-Shabab is a jihadist movement affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was founded in Somalia and has transformed itself from a domestic insurgency into a regional terrorist group that has carried out attacks in Kenya and Uganda. The network also has links with al-Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen.

“Removing Godane from the battlefield is a major symbolic and operational loss to al-Shabab,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.