The U.S. military carried out an overnight airstrike in Somalia, targeting the country’s primary al-Qaida cell — and by Thursday morning the man considered the group’s leader, Aden Hashi Ayro, was confirmed dead, along with 10 others.

AP via Google News:

The U.S. military confirmed an attack on a suspected al-Qaida target but did not identify the target.

Islamist leader Aden Hashi Ayro, believed to be the head of al-Qaida in Somalia, was killed when the airstrike struck his house in the central Somali town of Dusamareeb, about 300 miles north of Mogadishu, said Sheik Muqtar Robow, a spokesman for the Islamic al-Shabab militia.

Another commander and seven others were also killed, Robow said. Six more people were wounded, two of whom later died, said resident Abdullahi Nor.

“Our brother martyr Aden Hashi, has received what he was looking for — death for the sake of Allah — at the hands of the United States,” Robow told The Associated Press by phone.

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#al-qaeda#department of defense#military#militia#mogadishu#somalia#united nations#us