Somalia: two al-Shabaab militants, incl. top commander, killed in US drone strike

One of al-Shabaab’s top commanders, Mohamed Mire, was killed in a drone strike in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle Region, the military group has said, blaming the United States for the killing.
It comes as the US military confirmed on Thursday (26 December) it carried out an airstrike on 24 December in the south of the Horn of Africa country, killing two members of the Al-Qaeda-linked military group, including a senior commander. The US Africa command (AFRICOM) said in a statement that the strike was conducted “in coordination” with Somalia’s federal government, targeting an area southwest of Quyno Barrow. “The command will continue to assess the results of the operation and provide additional information as appropriate,” said AFRICOM.
Somalia’s Ministry of Information issued a statement lauding the operation as “meticulously planned” that was conducted alongside “international partners” with whom it and long been hunting Mire. The US State Department designated Mire a global terrorist in October 2022, describing him as a senior al-Shabaab leader in charge of the group’s “strategic decision-making,” he was a member of the group’s central shura (or leadership) council. Most recently, Mire acted as the group’s de facto interior minister. In July, Somalia’s anti-money laundering committee issued a sanctions list targeting Mire and seven other al-Shabaab commanders.