U.S. confirms al-Shabab leader killed in airstrike in Somalia
5 Sep 2014
The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that Ahmed Abdi Godane, a leader of the al Shabaab Islamist group, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Somalia this week.
Ahmed Abdi Godane, a co-founder of a network blamed for its brutal tactics in Somalia and for the attack on an upscale Kenyan shopping mall last year, was killed Monday in an attack carried out by U.S. drones and other aircraft, according to the White House and the Pentagon.
"Godane's removal is a major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaida affiliate in Africa and reflects years of painstaking work by our intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals," a White House statement said.
"Even as this is an important step forward in the fight against al-Shabab, the United States will continue to use the tools at our disposal - financial, diplomatic, intelligence and military - to address the threat that al-Shabab and other terrorist groups pose to the United States and the American people." It added.
Military officials had waited several days to confirm that Mr. Godane was killed in the strikes, on an encampment and a vehicle south of Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
The U.S. State Department declared al Shabaab a foreign terrorist organization in 2008.
His death leaves a gap in al Shabaab's leadership and was seen as posing the biggest challenge to the group's unity since it emerged as a fighting force eight years ago,acording to Abdi Ayante, director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab, which means “the youth” in Arabic, is a jihadist movement that has formally affiliated itself with al-Qaeda. Born in Somalia, a chronically unstable country on the Horn of Africa.
Al-Shabaab is fighting to topple Somalia’s western-backed government and regularly launches bombings and gun attacks against state targets and civilians. Godane’s death could now lead to an internal power struggle.
Somalia's government, with support from African peacekeepers and Western intelligence, has battled to curb al Shabaab's influence and drive the group from areas it has continued to control since it was expelled from Mogadishu in 2011.
Mr. Godane gave the orders to block food supplies from reaching starving people during Somalia’s famine in 2011, more than 200,000 people died. Godane has also taken the Shabab’s violence across Somalia’s borders, by organizing suicide attacks in Kenya and Uganda.
Mohamed Hassan Hamud, Somalia’s defence minister, said: “The Somalia federal government welcomes the death of the leader of the terrorist group al-Shabaab, Ahmed Godane.”
He added: The death of Godane is big blow to al-Shabaab and also to the al-Qaida network which al-Shabaab is a member of.”
Sources
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/05/us-somalia-usa-islamist-idUSKBN0H01OO20140905
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pentagon-confirms-death-somalia-terror-leader-25263627
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-confirms-al-shabab-leader-killed-in-airstrike-in-somalia/2014/09/05/fc9fee06-3512-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html
The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that Ahmed Abdi Godane, a leader of the al Shabaab Islamist group, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Somalia this week.
Ahmed Abdi Godane, a co-founder of a network blamed for its brutal tactics in Somalia and for the attack on an upscale Kenyan shopping mall last year, was killed Monday in an attack carried out by U.S. drones and other aircraft, according to the White House and the Pentagon.
"Godane's removal is a major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaida affiliate in Africa and reflects years of painstaking work by our intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals," a White House statement said.
"Even as this is an important step forward in the fight against al-Shabab, the United States will continue to use the tools at our disposal - financial, diplomatic, intelligence and military - to address the threat that al-Shabab and other terrorist groups pose to the United States and the American people." It added.
Military officials had waited several days to confirm that Mr. Godane was killed in the strikes, on an encampment and a vehicle south of Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
The U.S. State Department declared al Shabaab a foreign terrorist organization in 2008.
His death leaves a gap in al Shabaab's leadership and was seen as posing the biggest challenge to the group's unity since it emerged as a fighting force eight years ago,acording to Abdi Ayante, director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab, which means “the youth” in Arabic, is a jihadist movement that has formally affiliated itself with al-Qaeda. Born in Somalia, a chronically unstable country on the Horn of Africa.
Al-Shabaab is fighting to topple Somalia’s western-backed government and regularly launches bombings and gun attacks against state targets and civilians. Godane’s death could now lead to an internal power struggle.
Somalia's government, with support from African peacekeepers and Western intelligence, has battled to curb al Shabaab's influence and drive the group from areas it has continued to control since it was expelled from Mogadishu in 2011.
Mr. Godane gave the orders to block food supplies from reaching starving people during Somalia’s famine in 2011, more than 200,000 people died. Godane has also taken the Shabab’s violence across Somalia’s borders, by organizing suicide attacks in Kenya and Uganda.
Mohamed Hassan Hamud, Somalia’s defence minister, said: “The Somalia federal government welcomes the death of the leader of the terrorist group al-Shabaab, Ahmed Godane.”
He added: The death of Godane is big blow to al-Shabaab and also to the al-Qaida network which al-Shabaab is a member of.”
Sources
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/05/us-somalia-usa-islamist-idUSKBN0H01OO20140905
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pentagon-confirms-death-somalia-terror-leader-25263627
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-confirms-al-shabab-leader-killed-in-airstrike-in-somalia/2014/09/05/fc9fee06-3512-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html
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