UPDATE: Garissa Varsity Attack Plotter NOT Among Killed Al Shabaab Commanders
CLARIFICATION: Mohamed Kuno, also known as Gamadheere, who is believed to be the Garissa University attack mastermind is not among al Shabaab militants killed in Somalia as earlier reported – Interior Ministry.
At least four senior al Shabaab commanders were killed in a US drone strike alongside other 30 militants in Somalia on Thursday, July 16, 2015.
Bardere town residents heard several loud blasts at around 2am and the bodies were found later, the BBC reports.
“Last night, a drone smashed an al Shabaab car believed to be carrying three officials,” Nur Farah, a local elder, as quoted by Reuters.
Two of the bodies found at the scene are said to be of senior officials Ismail Jabhad and Ismail Adhere.
According to Mwenda Njoka, Kenya’s interior ministry spokesman, the drone strike took place at al Shabaab controlled area of Juungal, between Baardheere and Buur Hajje towns.
The ministry has clarified that Garissa University attack plotter Mohamed Kuno, also known as Gamadheere, is not among the deceased and should not be confused with Adhere.
The incident, seen as a key victory in war against terror, comes just hours after Kenya Defence Force soldiers killed seven militants and recovered AK 47 rifles and grenades.
Al Shabaab have carried out several attacks in Kenya in the recent past with a notable one being in Mandera where they killed 14 people.
Similar airstrikes by US forces killed the group’s leader Ahmed Abdi Godane in 2014 and Westgate shopping mall attack plotter Adan Garar in March 2015.
John Earnest, the White House spokesman, assured Kenyans that the US President Barack Obama will not cancel his planned visit to the country despite the threats posed by the group.
Obama, who will be hosting the 6th Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, is expected to hold talks on counter-terrorism measures with Kenyan authorities.
Image: Telegraph
