Al-Shabaab leader killed in US air strike

MOGADISHU: A senior commander in Somalia’s al-Shabaab group with a $5 million (R78m) bounty on his head was killed in an American air strike last month, according to Somalia state media, a blow to the militants’ Islamist insurgency.

According to a Somalia state radio report late on Saturday, Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud was the head of al-Shabaab’s operations and was killed in a US air strike on February 22 in the Sakow district of the Jubba region in Somalia’s south.

Mahamoud sometimes used the alias Bashir Qoorgaab.

“Africom forces killed Bashir Mohamed (Qoorgaab) in an air strike, the operation head as well executive member of al-Shabaab,” the state radio reported, using an acronym for the US military’s Africa Command.

The radio report said Mahamoud had been responsible for a series of attacks on Somalia national army military bases, among other attacks.

Somalia’s information minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye did not respond to a call for comment.

Al-Shabaab could not be reached for comment.

Since 2008, al-Shabaab has been fighting to topple Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islam’s sharia law.

The group’s campaign of bombings and gun attacks has targeted Somali military bases and civilian infrastructure, including hotels, bars and schools in Somalia and other regional countries.

Al-Shabaab fighters also target the AU-mandated peacekeeping force the African Union Mission in Somalia, which helps defend the central government.

The US frequently carries out air strikes in Somalia aimed against al-Shaabab, attempting to degrade their capabilities and ultimately to defeat them.