U.S. Drone Strike Kills al-Shabab Islamic Extremist Group Members

dimeji akinloye

March 13, 2015 12:23 AM

A U.S. drone strike in Somalia on Thursday may have killed a senior member of the Al-Shabab extremist group who allegedly helped plan the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi.

A U.S. drone strike in Somalia on Thursday may have reportedly killed a senior member of the al-Shabab extremist group who allegedly helped plan the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi.

According to Time, Kenyan and US officials said Adan Garar and two others are suspected to have been killed after their car was targeted near the town of Bardhere.

The report says, a senior Kenyan official said Garar is also suspected of planning failed attacks on Kenya’s coast and in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, last year.

Anti-terror police foiled a planned attack in the coastal city of Mombasa after they intercepted a car packed with explosives in March 2014, according to Kenyan authorities. According to police, al-Shabab militants had planned simultaneous attacks on the international airport in Mombasa, the ferry crossing and a supermarket. The car laden with explosives was to be detonated on a ferry.

Al-Shabab, an Islamic extremist group, has vowed to inflict violent attacks on Kenya and Uganda because the two countries have contributed troops to the African Union force supporting the government in Somalia.

Sixty-seven people were killed in the Westgate attack, which was carried out by four gunmen from al-Shabab.

dimeji akinloye