Explosion destroys vehicle in militant stronghold in Somalia

A senior commander and other members of the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab have been killed in a US drone strike in southwestern Somalia, Somali and US officials and a militant commander said Thursday.

Officials in neighboring Kenya, however, claim the victims were al-Shabab militants, including some of their commanders.

Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said during the attack on Thursday, 11 technical vehicles were also destroyed following a major artillery bombardment against the insurgents in Jungal, 15 km northwest of Tarako and 40km West of Bardhere in Gedo region.

Al-Shabab is responsible for carrying out a series of deadly attacks on civilians, government troops and African Union forces across Somalia.

Heightened offensive by the U.S. and KDF against al Shabaab comes just a week before American President Barack Obama visits Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be stage in Nairobi.

They have also made a string of attacks and massacres across northeastern Kenya, from Mandera in the far north to the Lamu region on the coast.

The names of the commanders believed to have been killed are Ismael Jamhad and Jama Dere, a Somali military officer travelling with the African Union troops in the area told the BBC.

The United States has in recent years launched numerous drone strikes against Shabaab leaders, including a strike last September that killed the group’s leader Ahmed Abdi Godane.

Sources in Somalia confirmed an overnight air strike had taken place in a al-Shabaab area of the war-torn country.

“We heard two big explosions close to an al-Shabab military base”, said Abdiwahab Ali, an elder at a village close to the scene.

A spokesman from the militants could not immediately be reached for comment.