Washington: U.S. military has carried out an air strike in Somalia against a senior leader of the al Qaeda-linked militant group al Shabaab,accused of participating in deadly attacks on African forces and American citizens.
The Pentagon said on Friday that the aur strike was aimed at Hassan Ali Dhoore, who was also described as a key member al-Qaeda.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a written statement that. “While we are still assessing the results of this operation, removing [Hassan Ali] Dhoore from the battlefield would be a significant blow to al- Shabaab’s operational planning and ability to conduct attacks against the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia, its citizens, U.S. partners in the region and against Americans abroad.”
The airstrike was carried out with the cooperation of Somali government, according to the statement.
Dhoore was responsible for the attack on Mogadishu International Airport in Dec. 25, 2014, that killed several African Union Mission in Somalia personnel and one U.S. citizen, He was also directly responsible for the March 27, 2015, attack on the Maka al-Mukarram Hotel in Mogadishu that killed 15 people, including one Somali-American national, according to the statement.
The statement added. “Hassan was believed to have been plotting attacks targeting U.S. citizens in Mogadishu.”