Drone strikes takes out al-Shabab leader in Somalia, says Pentagon

A U.S. drone strike in Somalia has targeted a key leader of the al-Shabaab militant group who was involved in two attacks in Mogadishu more than a year ago that killed more than 30 people, at least three Americans among them, the Pentagon said. Several U.S. officials said he and two others were killed. Hassan Ali Dhoore was targeted in the airstrike Thursday, but the U.S. military was still assessing the results, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

Removing Dhoore from the battlefield would be a significant blow to al-Shabaab’s operational planning and ability to conduct attacks against the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia, its citizens, U.S. partners in the region, and against Americans abroad.

A Pentagon statement

Dhoore allegedly helped carry out a Christmas Day 2014 attack at the airport in the Somali capital. He was also suspected of a March 2015 siege at the Maka al Mukarramah Hotel, also in the city, said US officials. The strike comes weeks after the Pentagon says it killed more than 150 al Shabaab fighters in Somalia. That attack used both manned aircraft and unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones to target a training camp about 120 miles north of Mogadishu.

al Shabaab