Drone strike kills leaders of group responsible for mall attack in Kenya

Bill Gertz:
A U.S. drone strike in Somalia killed two terrorists of the al Qaeda-affiliated group al Shabaab, including a leader of the group, a U.S. official said.

The drone attack took place Monday near the southern town of Jilib when an armed unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with missiles fired on a vehicle in the town, said the official who is knowledgeable of the raid but who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official provided no further details but confirmed the attack following news reports from Mogadishu that quoted eyewitnesses in Jilib, located about 75 miles north of the town of Kismayo, as saying Al Shabaab fighters claimed the bodies of the two men after the attack.

Residents reported that the two men were riding in a Suzuki vehicle and, after an explosion, a drone was seen leaving the area. A large number of al Shabaab fighters then descended on the area.

An al Shabaab commander who had been linked to past suicide bombing attacks reportedly was one of the two men killed.
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Drone strikes can have their advantages when the enemy puts himself in a position to evade capture.  What we lose with these strikes is intelligence that may have been recovered from the terrorist.

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