Strike in Somalia would kill mastermind behind attacks on Americans and Kenyans

A senior leader of the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab, accused of planning multiple attacks that killed 148 Kenyans in a university town and three Americans at a military base, was killed in a US military drone strike on Sunday, according to Somali and American officials.

Maalim Ayman was killed on December 17 by a US Special Operations drone strike in a joint operation with the Somali National Army, officials said. It is believed that he is responsible for the raid on January 5, 2020, at a military base in Manda Bay, Kenya, killing two U.S. contract pilots and one U.S. soldier. A third American contractor and two other American soldiers were injured. Six American aircraft were destroyed in the attack.

So has Somalia, a strategic nation in the Horn of Africa repel attacks since 2006 by the extremist group al-Shabab, with the assistance from armed forces from the African Union and the United States. Mr Ayman was believed to be the mastermind of a unit carrying out attacks in Kenya, Somalia’s southern neighbour.

Officially, the U.S. Africa Command, while confirming the attack in Somalia, did not identify the target. Pending further analysis, the command said in a statement. But a US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said the attack successfully targeted Mr Ayman. Somalia’s Information Minister confirmed Mr Ayman’s killing.

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has vowed to defeat the Shabab militarily and financially. Although Al-Shabab (which has ties to the Qaeda terrorist group) has lost ground and fighters in recent years, it has proven resilient and continues to carry out deadly attacks in hotels, restaurants and ministries that have left hundreds dead.

Mr Ayman is also believed to have planned the 2015 attack on Garissa University in northeastern Kenya, which resulted in the deaths of 148 people, most of them students. After storming the university at dawn, the gunmen shot straight at studentsmany of whom were sleeping in their dormitories.

It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in the capital Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council spoke unanimously the arms embargo lifted It was established in 1992 after the civil war broke out in Somalia. The Somali president welcomed the move, telling a security conference in New York that it was a testament to the progress his government has made.

The African Union began withdrawing troops from Somalia this year, as directed by the UN Security Council, and the Somali army and police have taken over management of Somalia’s security. major government installations.

The U.S. fight against Al-Shabab began in 2014 with a handful of military advisors and steadily grew to a training force of 700 people. President Donald J. Trump withdrew the force just before he left office in 2021. President Biden restored 450 troops to the force last year to advise Somali soldiers in the fight against the Shabab, which still controls much of the south of the country.

Most of the 16 U.S. strikes in Somalia this year were in defense and support of Somali forces fighting the Shabab on the ground. But Sunday’s attack was a relatively rare, pre-planned attack by U.S. Special Operations forces against a Shabab leader the first since May.

The attack on Mr Ayman took place near Jilib, a Shabab-controlled stronghold in southern Somalia, the US military official said.

Somalia’s Information Minister Daud Aweis, who also confirmed Mr Ayman’s killing, said Mr Ayman was the sole target of the attack. He declined to release further information about how Mr. Ayman was killed or how officials confirmed his identity.

“It took us three days to complete the process” to confirm he had been killed, Mr. Aweis said in a telephone interview.

It was not immediately clear if anyone else was killed in the attack. The US command, known as Africom, said after an initial assessment that there had been “no civilian casualties”.

Somali and American officials say Mr. Ayman was the head of the Jaysh Ayman, an al-Shabab unit involved in planning and carrying out terrorist attacks in both Kenya and Somalia.

Earlier this year there was the Reward for Justice program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

By attacking Mr. Ayman, the Somali government “sent a message because we believe that anyone responsible for the merciless acts of violence against our people must be punished or brought to justice,” said Mr. Aweis, the minister of Information. “We saw him as an obstacle to Somalia’s goal of achieving cohesion and harmony, both within Somalia and with neighboring countries.”