12/31/2014
WASHINGTON – United States has launched an airstrike against one of the leaders of the jihadist group Al-Shabab near Saakow in Somalia, although it is not yet known if it has caused civilian casualties.
The U.S. Department of Defense, following Monday’s airstrike, is evaluating the development of the attack and will provide details on its results later, it said on Tuesday in a brief statement.
“At this time, we do not assess there to be any civilian or bystander casualties. We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information, when appropriate, as details become available,” the Pentagon informed.
Al-Shabab, who announced his formal support to Al-Qaeda in 2012, is struggling to set up a Wahhabi Islamic State in Somalia.
In March 2008, it was included in the terrorist list of organizations by the U.S. Government.
On Dec. 27, the Somalian army captured the Shabab intelligence chief, Zakariye Ismail Hirsi, near the border with Kenya.
Hirsi, who was on the U.S. list of most wanted terrorists, would have voluntarily surrendered to Somali forces, according to government sources.
This official, the second after the current leader of the terrorist group – Ahmed Omar- ended up in the hands of the Somali army three months after the former head of the radical militia, Ahmed Abdi Godane died in a U.S. airstrike.
source
WASHINGTON – United States has launched an airstrike against one of the leaders of the jihadist group Al-Shabab near Saakow in Somalia, although it is not yet known if it has caused civilian casualties.The U.S. Department of Defense, following Monday’s airstrike, is evaluating the development of the attack and will provide details on its results later, it said on Tuesday in a brief statement.
“At this time, we do not assess there to be any civilian or bystander casualties. We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information, when appropriate, as details become available,” the Pentagon informed.
Al-Shabab, who announced his formal support to Al-Qaeda in 2012, is struggling to set up a Wahhabi Islamic State in Somalia.
In March 2008, it was included in the terrorist list of organizations by the U.S. Government.
On Dec. 27, the Somalian army captured the Shabab intelligence chief, Zakariye Ismail Hirsi, near the border with Kenya.
Hirsi, who was on the U.S. list of most wanted terrorists, would have voluntarily surrendered to Somali forces, according to government sources.
This official, the second after the current leader of the terrorist group – Ahmed Omar- ended up in the hands of the Somali army three months after the former head of the radical militia, Ahmed Abdi Godane died in a U.S. airstrike.
source
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