US kills ‘killer’ of 148 Kenyan students in drone strike

A US drone strike in Somalia has killed Mohamed Mohamud, the alleged mastermind of the attack on Garissa University College, Kenya, which left scores of students dead.

Speaking last Thursday, a Kenyan interior ministry spokesperson, Mwenda Njoka, said the strike killed three other senior members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebaab.

"It was a US drone. Kenyan forces usually provide ground support, information and intelligence on such strikes," Njoka told AFP.

Sources in war-torn Somalia confirmed the overnight air strike which took place.

An elder at a village close to the scene, Abdiwahab Ali, said vehicles believed to be carrying Shebaab commanders were struck by at least two missiles.

"We heard two big explosions and the information we are getting indicates that vehicles were targeted close to a Shebaab military base," Ali said.

Almost 150 persons were killed when the militants stormed the school and hunted down Christian students.

Last September a similar US drone strike killed Shebaab's leader Ahmed Abdi Godane.