BREAKING: Terrorist Leader Killed by U.S. Airstrike in Somalia

  by Amanda Shea

Al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in a US airstrike on Monday, according to the Pentagon.
Somalia’s government said the strike hit ‘‘a gathering’’ of leaders of the Islamic extremist al-Shabab group, a fact that has now been confirmed, according to the Boston Globe.
The strikes were conducted by special operations forces using manned and unmanned aircraft, targeting Godane, 37, al-Shabab’s spiritual leader, the US confirmed Tuesday, as part of an operations launch based on ‘‘actionable’’ intelligence.

The leader claimed responsibility for a deadly attack a year ago on an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Somalia’s government spokesman Ridwaan Abdiwali praised US support in the war on the Al Qaeda-linked militant group, the Globe reported.
At least six militants were killed in the attack which hit a car in which Godane was traveling in, said militant commander Abu Mohammed, adding that Godane ‘‘might have been killed along with other militants,’’ a senior Somali intelligence official told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Under Godane’s direction the Somali militants forged an alliance with Al Qaeda, and in 2012 the US offered a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his arrest.
Al-Shabab still controls some parts of southern Somalia after being ousted from their bases in Mogadishu in 2011. An ongoing Somali military offensive is working to oust the militants from their last strongholds, including the coastal city of Barawe.