Mogadishu/Sputnik/UNI: The US military eliminated a senior al-Shabab terrorist leader during an airstrike in Somalia last week, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement on Tuesday.
“US Africa Command post-strike assessments confirm that one of the three terrorists killed in the command's April 2 precision airstrike was a long-standing, high-ranking leader in the al-Shabab terrorist organization,” AFRICOM said.
The eliminated extremist, Yusuf Jiis, was one of the founders of al-Shabab and played significant role in group’s violent activity in East Africa, AFRICOM said.
"He was violent, ruthless, and responsible for the loss of many innocent lives. His removal makes Somalia and neighboring countries safer," AFRICOM commander Stephen Townsend said in the statement.
US forces conducted the airstrike in coordination with Somalia’s federal government near Bush Madina, Somalia, which lies in the Bay region, some 200 kilometers west of the nation’s capital of Mogadishu, AFRICOM said.
In a separate airstrike on April 6 in the vicinity of Jilib, Somalia, AFRICOM killed another five terrorists, it said in a separate statement on Tuesday. No civilians were harmed in the attack, AFRICOM said.
The US military said that despite the elimination of al-Shabab leader, the group remains a serious threat to the security of the region.
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