MOGADISHU, Somalia – A suspected drone strike in central Somalia targeted a gathering by Al Shabaab militants, the state media reported, citing unnamed military sources.
Diverging accounts of the incident emerged, with state broadcaster reporting that the Somali army backed by the US forces struck the Al-Shabaab bases near Caad and Cadaley.
The two areas are situated in the southern Mudug region under Somalia’s Galmudug state.
The U.S. military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), which has been helping the Somali government in its yearlong offensive against al Shabaab, is to comment on the strike.
Since last year, with the support of the US military and local clans, the Somali government has pushed the jihadists out of large swathes of territory in the center of the Horn of Africa country.
On Friday, the Somali government confirmed that Maalin Ayman, a US-wanted Al-Shabaab commander who headed Jaysh Ayman, the group’s unit in Kenya died in a drone strike near Jilib town, Middle Juba region on 17th December.
The US placed a $10 million bounty on Ayman’s head for plotting a dawn Al-Shabaab attack on an American airbase in Lamu, Kenya, where three US service members had been killed.
