Senior Al-Shabaab commanders killed Somalia drone strike

NAIROBI: At least two senior commanders from the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab were killed in a drone strike in south-west Somalia.

There was confusion on the exact identities of those killed in the attacks Thursday at about 2am in Bardere town that is under the control of the militants.

Residents told BBC several loud blasts were heard in the town at dawn and the bodies were found later.

The names of the commanders believed to have been killed are Ismael Jamhad and Jama Dere, a Somali military officer travelling with the African Union troops in the area told the BBC.

The residents said that after the blasts, well-armed Al-Shabaab fighters rushed to the scene in Bardere, near the Juba River about 460km west of Mogadishu, where the dead men were found.

• .

  Keep Reading

• 
  University terror attack survivors yet to heal, nine years on
• 
  KDF soldier sacked for torturing spy awarded Sh5m
• 
  Firm linked to fake fertiliser calls for arrest of Linturi, NCPB boss
• 
  Court finds two men guilty of being Al Shabaab members

Bardere is one of the few towns still controlled by Al-Shabaab.

African Union and Somali government troops are reported to be advancing on the area in Gedo region.

The US has killed several senior members of Al-Shabaab in drone strikes in the past.

In Kenya, Interior spokesman Mwenda Njoka said they were waiting for confirmation on the identities of those killed but hinted they had information the two men were among four slain.

“Four key terror leaders among them Ismail Jabhadi and Jamaa Dere on Kenya most wanted list killed in a drone attack last night,” he said.

There had been speculation among those killed was Gamadhere Kuno, who is wanted over the April 2, 2015 Garissa University massacre in which more than 150 people, most of them students were killed. Kuno remain one of the most wanted in Kenya and Somalia and there is a bounty of more than Sh20 million on his head.

Al-Shabaab, which wants to topple the Western-backed government and impose its strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia, has been driven out of major strongholds by the African and Somali forces but continues to launch bomb and gun attacks against officials, politicians and others.

Somalia has seen clan-based warlords, rival politicians and Islamist militants battle for control since the fall of long-serving ruler Siad Barre in 1991.

African Union troops have been in the country since 2007 helping various UN-backed governments fight Al-Shabaab.

Over the last four years, the militants have been driven from most of the key towns they once held but they still control rural areas in the south.

On Wednesday, Kenyan troops killed seven Al-Shabaab terrorists in battle in Lagolie in Somalia.

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman David Obonyo said Al-Shabaab fighters ambushed the soldiers after a vehicle they were travelling in hit a home-made bomb planted on the road.

A KDF soldier died while another sustained injuries during the fight in the small township near Elade in Gedo region.

“The soldiers pursued the terrorists and in the ensuing fire fight seven Al-Shabaab terrorists were killed (and) eight AK-47 rifles, two grenades and assorted ammunition were seized. The injured soldier is receiving the necessary medical attention,” said Colonel Obonyo.

He said Al-Shabaab activities have heightened in the past week following “sustained pressure from troops operating under Amisom.

There are over 4,000 KDF soldiers in Somalia operating under Amisom, and their activities are restricted to Sector 2.

The other sectors are covered by troops from Uganda, Djibouti and Sierra Leone.