Originally published on October 29, 2013
At least two senior commanders of the militant Islamist group al Shabaab, the main al-Qaeda-linked group in East Africa, were killed in an air strike in the south of Somalia on Monday.
According to reports, the strike took place on the route between the towns of Jilib and Barawe, known as a major base for al Shabaab.
The two alleged militants were traveling in a Suzuki car, when according to witnesses a drone fired a missile.
Many cars were driving ahead but the drone targeted the militant's Suzuki, a witness said.
The missile hit the car causing an explosion and fire.
"I witnessed a Suzuki car burning, many al Shabaab men came to the scene," Hassan Nur, a resident in the area, said. "I could see them carry the remains of two corpses. It was a heavy missile that the drone dropped. Many cars were driving ahead of me but the drone targeted this Suzuki."
According to Reuters, "Other residents at the scene also said they had seen the strike. Somalia officials and police were not immediately available to comment about the hit, largely because the rebels control a vast area around where the drone struck."
Reports said that one of the men killed was known as Anta and was al Shabaab's top explosives expert.
Al Shabaab officials declined to comment.
According to the BBC, the US launched a failed raid in Barawe earlier this month to capture an al-Shabab commander. Another missile killed four foreign militants in February 2012 south of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.
Since 2011, Al Shabaab has been driven out of Mogadishu, Reuters reported. Currently the group is struggling to hold on to territory elsewhere in the face of attacks by Kenyan, Ethiopian and African Union forces trying to prevent Islamist militancy spreading out from Somalia.
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