Two senior Al-Shabaab commanders felled in drone strike in Gedo

Two high ranking Al-Shabaab commanders were this morning killed in a suspected drone strike in Garas Dulan 35 Km west of Baardheere town in Gedo region, sources say.

The two, Ismail Jabhad and Ismael Dhere are alleged to have been killed by the 5am drone strike but Goobjoog News cannot independently verify this information.

Military movements

The strikes follow yesterday’s military movements in Baardheere involving Somali National Army, SNA and Kenya Defence Forces, KDF which military sources said were aimed at closing in on the Al-Shabaab controlled town. Military sources exclusively told Goobjoog News yesterday SNA and KDF forces under the African Union backed forced AMISOM were on the verge of launching an offensive against Al-Shabaab bases in Baardheere town which has been a major stronghold of the militant group.

Al-shabaab took control of Baardheere in August 2008 after losing large swathes of southern Somalia to government troops.

Drone base

The US based magazine Foreign Policy reported earlier this month that a team of special operators from the Joint Special Operations Command, the elite U.S. military organization famous for killing Osama bin Laden, flies drones and carries out other counterterrorism activities in Kismayo. The magazine said the command operates drones from the airport’s single runway and carry out covert “intelligence” and “counterterrorism” operations.

The US has carried out similar airstrikes in the past including the killing of Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane September last year and intelligence leader Abdishakur Tahlil in December.

Goobjoog News