(TNS)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says a U.S. drone strike in Somalia on Monday killed a senior leader of al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-affiliated group responsible for terrorist attacks in Somalia and neighboring Kenya.
Confirmation came late Wednesday morning in a tweet from Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.
“We can confirm that Tahlil Abdishakur, chief of al-Shabab's intelligence & security wing, was killed in a US airstrike in Somalia 29 Dec.,” Kirby wrote.
Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency on Tuesday announced the successful airstrike against Tahlil. Somalia said the strike also killed two other senior leaders of the group.
The strike was carried out by U.S. forces who fired Hellfire missiles from unmanned aircraft at a vehicle carrying Tahlil, according to a written statement from the Defense Department. The militant leader died near the city of Saakow, located about 200 miles southwest of the capital, Mogadishu, in southern Somalia.
Al-Shabab’s capabilities will be significantly reduced as a result, DOD said.
“Tahlil was responsible for al-Shabab's external operations,” according to the written statement. “His death will significantly impact al-Shabab's ability to conduct attacks against the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Somali people, and U.S. allies and interests in the region.”
On Saturday, an al-Shabaab leader with a $3 million price on his head, Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi, surrendered to Somali officials, the Associated Press reported. He reportedly had left the group in 2013 after a falling out with other insurgents who were loyal to al-Shabab head Ahmed Abdi Godane.
U.S. airstrikes in September killed Godane, who like Tahlil was traveling in a vehicle at the time.
The militant group, which has alienated many Somalis with its brutal tactics and harsh interpretation of Islam, has been pushed out of the capital in recent years by African Union troops and the Somali army, which have regained control of large regions of the country.
carroll.chris@stripes.com Twitter: @ChrisCarroll_
