A U.S. military airstrike in Somalia has targeted the leader of the Islamist militant group al Shabaab, Somali and U.S. officials said on Tuesday, adding that it may take time to determine whether Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed, according to The Associated Press.
The U.S. launched Hellfire missiles and laser-guided munitions to destroy an al Shabaab encampment in south-central Somalia late on Monday, the Pentagon said, the AP reported. It said both manned and unmanned aircraft were used in the operation.
Some U.S. officials privately said they believed Godane was killed in the strike, but the U.S. government was not ready to confirm that, according to the AP.
"If he was killed, this is a very significant blow to their network, to their organization, and, we believe, to their ability to continue to conduct terrorist attacks," said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby, the AP reported.
Since taking charge in 2008, Godane has restyled the group as a global player in the al Qaeda network, a transformation that was highlighted when it killed at least 67 people in an attack on a Kenyan shopping mall in September last year, according to the AP. Godane's close associate, Ahmed Mohamed Amey, was killed by a U.S. air strike in January.
The group has also been carrying out guerrilla attacks in parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, where it is fighting the Western-backed Somalia government, the AP reported.
After the Westgate mall attack, Navy SEALS stormed ashore into the al Shabaab stronghold of Barawe, where a regional official said the latest air strike was also launched, but they failed to capture or kill their target, according to the AP. The Somali government and al Shabaab officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
