At least three alleged members of al Shahaab were killed in an airstrike against Kunyo-Barow village. The US action killed Abdirahman Sandhere, a senior al Shabaab fighter, the US Defence of Department (DoD) declared, along with two other suspected members of the group. There are currently no reports of civilian harm from this strike.

The “military air strike” specifically targeted Sandhere (aka Ukash) but also killed two unidentified associates, the DoD reported.

Initial reports said the attack hit one or two buildings in Kunyo Barrow village, near the town of Barawe where the group’s leader Abu Ahmed Godane was killed in September. However a spokesperson for the US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “The strike occurred in one location and did not hit any structures.”

Sandhere was not among the six high value al Shabaab members listed at the time by the US on its Rewards for Justice programme. The DoD said, in a statement: “Ukash’s removal from the battlefield is a significant blow to al-Shabaab and reflects the painstaking work by our intelligence, military, and law enforcement professionals. This is an important step forward in the fight against al Shabaab, and the United States will continue to use the tools at our disposal – financial, diplomatic, intelligence and military – to dismantle al Shabaab and other terrorist groups who threaten [the USA], interests and persons. We will also continue to support our international partners, particularly the African Union Mission in Somalia, that are working to support the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia in building a secure and stable future for the Somali people.”

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had carried out a strike on what it says was “an al-Shabaab named objective” in Kunyo Barrow, Somalia.

The incident occured in the morning.

In this strike in Barawe, Lower Shabelle, up to six al Shabaab militants were killed, including the the group’s leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane (aka Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr or Ahmed Abdi Aw Mohamed), international and local media reported. There were no reports of civilian harm.

The strike was the first known US attack in Somalia for some months, and involved both US drones and conventional air craft, flown by Special Forces operatives from JSOC, who targeted an encampment and vehicles in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia. At least six people were reportedly killed in the attack, multiple sources said.

It remained unclear for days after the strike if the US had indeed killed Godane. Initially the US government, Somali government officials and al Shabaab were cagey about his apparent demise. The day after the attack, al Shabaab spokesperson Abu Mohammed confirmed Godane, above, was in the convoy when the attack hit. And a US official told Reuters: “We don’t know that he’s dead. But he was the target.”

Godane’s death was eventually confirmed on September 5th. He was the specific target, according to a Pentagon spokesperson, though the attack reportedly also killed a group of senior al Shabaab figures.

Godane, 37, trained as an accountant and worked for an airline before turning to violence, according to the Daily Telegraph. He took control of the al Shabaab group in 2008 when his predecessor Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in a cruise missile strike. He sidelined or killed more moderate rivals in his rise to the top of the terrorist organisation. The US government had put a $7m reward for information on his whereabouts.

Al Shabaab named a successor two days after the US government confirmed Godane was dead. Ahmed Umar was elected unanimously, according to a video message sent to al Jazeera. The Somali government subsequently put a $3m reward out for Umar.

While Godane’s fate was unclear for almost a week after the strike, the Pentagon was uncharacteristically transparent about the attack, with spokesperson Rear Admiral John Kirby making several statements, and answering questions from the press. Kirby said of the strike: “The U.S. military undertook operations against Godane on Sept. 1, which led to his death… Removing Godane from the battlefield is a major symbolic and operational loss” to al-Shabab… The United States works in coordination with its friends, allies and partners to counter the regional and global threats posed by violent extremist organizations.”

Somali National Security Ministry spokesperson Mohamed Yusuf additionally told journalists: “His death is great news for the Somali people, because he was responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent people in his so-called holy war.”

Godane was in overall command of the murderous terrorist attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, in 2013. The president of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta thanked the US for killing Godane: “We owe the United States and its soldiers our heartfelt thanks for bringing an end to Godane’s career of death and destruction and finally allowing us to begin our healing process.”

A possible, and surprising, element of this strike emerged on September 12th 2014. A French publication, Le Point, reported that France’s intelligence service the DGSE had given the US the precise whereabouts of Godane, under direct orders from President Francois Hollande. The article claimed that Paris had been hunting Godane to exact revenge for the kidnapping of two DGSE officers on July 14th 2009, and the death of one of them and two commandos sent to rescue him on January 12th 2013. President Hollande had ordered his intelligence services to do everything they could to find and kill Godane.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had carried out a strike on what it says was an  “al Shabaab named objective”, in the vicinity of Baraawe, Somalia on this date.

The incident occured at 17:30:00 local time.

A US strike on an al Shabaab “command and logistics node” killed eight members of the group, according to a US Africa Command press release. There were claims that Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame, a commander of the terror group’s intelligence wing was killed in the strike, though this was not confirmed by AFRICOM. No civilians were reported at the time to have been killed or injured in the action.

The attack took place at 2:20am Eastern Standard Time on June 11th, according to the statement. This is around 9.20am local Somalia time.

The office of Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi said the camp was near Sakow, in the Middle Juba region in southern Somalia. AFRICOM said it was located 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu.

“Earlier today, I authorised our special forces with the support of our international partners to conduct a strike against an al Shabaab training camp near Sakow,” a statement from President Abdullahi said, which suggests Somali special forces were involved in the attack.

It was conducted under authorities approved by US President Donald Trump in March 2017 which declared parts of Somalia an “area of active hostilities” for 180 days exempting US commanders from certain restraints. This however appeared to be the first airstrike conducted since the March change.

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana White said that the action was carried out as a direct response to al-Shabaab activities. This included recent attacks on Somali forces, she said, possibly referring to the previous week’s attack on a Somali military encampment, which killed up to 70 people, with some reports of civilian casualties.

AFRICOM said that US forces, in cooperation with the Somali government, are conducting operations “to degrade the al Qaeda affiliate’s ability to recruit, train and plot external terror attacks throughout the region and in America”. Al Shabaab was declared by the US an al Qaeda affiliate at the end of last year.

The New York Times was told by an American official that the strike was carried out by at least one armed Reaper drone coming from an air base in Dijibouti. The source said the drone fired multiple Hellfire missiles on a camp reportedly monitored by US surveillance aircrafts for months.

Such strikes should be expected now, the US official said, on account of US and Somali officials having closely analysed potential targets that could be attacked following the March policy change.

SOFREP, a news site written and curated by US special operations veterans, reported that the strike had targeted the leadership and senior members of the Amniyat, al Shabaab’s intelligence service. It also reported rumours that a commander of the intelligence wing, identified as Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame (also known as Mahad Karate), had been killed.

A source told Reuters that Somali and US forces had been hunting Warsame for some time, with a May 5th raid detailed in the article taking place in village where he was believed to be hiding – and which had led to the death of a US Navy SEAL. The US authorities offered up to $5m for information to bring Warsame to justice. Rewards for Justice continues to describe him (as of November 2019) as a deputy leader of the group.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had struck what it says was an al Shabaab training camp with fighters, in the vicinity of Bohol Jawarey, Somalia.

The incident occured at 09:20:00 local time.