A Somali government soldier drags the dead body of an Islamic al-Shabab fighter killed during fighting (Photo : REUTERS/Stringer)
The Pentagon has confirmed that air strikes by US drones have killed an Al-Shabab leader, Adan Garar.
The militant leader was hit by a strike drone that was equipped with Hellfire missiles in the southern part of Somalia last Friday.
The operation took place about 150 miles west of Mogadishu near the town of Dinsoor. Garar had been a suspect in the Westgate mall attack in Nairobi which took place in 2013 and left 67 people dead in its wake. The defence department said they have "dealt another significant blow" as told The New York Times.
Garar was a member of the security and intelligence wing and a "key operative responsible for coordinating Al-Shabab's external operations", according to the Pentagon. The US believes Garar was in charge of overseeing operations that "target US persons and other Western interests" as told to BBC News.
The United States has been trying to fight the Al-Shabab for nearly a decade with the help of economic sanctions, missile strikes and commando raids. In 2014 the Obama administration increased its efforts in the fight against terrorism, in September a drone strike killed the leader of Al-Shabab Ahmed Abdi Godane, regarded as one of the most wanted men in Africa.
The African continent is slowly becoming a training ground for terrorist and militant organizations, with the successful attacks on the militant group Al-Shabab, the US has been able to deal a significant damage and broken the back of the militant organization in its war against terrorism.
