MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – A US military air strike in Somalia has killed a senior commander of militant group Al-Shabaab, state radio reports.
According to a government statement broadcast on state radio, Abulkadir Commandos was killed in an air strike in the town of Sakow on Tuesday.
The man was a former Somali Special Forces officer during the reign of President Mohamed Siad Barre and later joined Jihadist movements following the ouster of the regime in the early 1990s.
Somali security officials said Abdulqadir Commandoes was in his late 50s and embraced Al-Shabaab in 2011 after Hizbul Islam led by Hassan Dahir Aways unified with the Al-Qaeda-linked group.
Speaking to Somaliguardian on the condition of anonymity, a top Somali intelligence official pointed out that Mr Commandoes played a leading role in the insurgency war against Ethiopian troops that invaded Somalia in 2006.
He added that the man was a leading figure of Jabha Islamiya insurgency group and relentlessly continued to be part of Jihadist campaign to unseat the western-backed government in Mogadishu.
The US carries out frequent air strikes in Somalia to target militants. It has not yet commented on the report.
Al-Shabaab is linked to Al-Qaeda and controls much of southern and central Somalia.
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