• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

US Confirms Death of Al-Shabab Leader

by VOA News September 05, 2014

U.S. officials have confirmed that an airstrike in Somalia killed Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of militant group al-Shabab.

Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement that a U.S. military operation against Godane on Monday 'led to his death.'

Witnesses had reported that a U.S. drone launched missiles at a meeting of al-Shabab leaders in southern Somalia.

Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, called the strike a serious blow to the militant organization for several reasons.

'One, Godane has been the leader of al-Shabab in Somalia for many years, for a long time,' he said. 'I think this will degrade their morale and hopefully it will also cause some internal strife as they try to determine who their next leader will be.

"Of course, whoever their next leader is, we'll immediately need to worry about his safety as well," he added.

In Wales, President Barack Obama vowed to dismantle ISIL and spoke about how the killing of the al-Shabab leader.

"We are going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL,' he said. 'The same way that we have gone after al-Qaida, the same way that we have gone after the al-Qaida affiliate in Somalia, where we released today the fact that we have killed the leader of al-Shabab in Somalia and have consistently worked to degrade their operations. We have been very systematic and methodical in going after these kinds of organizations that may threaten U.S. personnel and the homeland.'

A White House statement Friday said Godane's removal from the battlefield is a 'major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaida affiliate in Africa' and reflected 'years of painstaking work by intelligence, military and law enforcement officials.'

Godane had led al-Shabab since 2008 and was on the U.S. government's list of designated terrorists. The State Department had offered $7 million for information 'bringing him to justice.'

Under Godane's leadership, al-Shabab took control of much of southern and central Somalia, including most of Mogadishu at one point, and imposed a harsh form of Islamic law.

The group has since lost most of its territory but has continued to carry out suicide attacks on government targets, including the presidential palace in Mogadishu.