US airstrike kills leader of Shabab movement in Somalia

US Special Forces have struck yet again inside Somalia. The latest airstrike in central Somalia killed senior Shabab and al Qaeda leader Aden Hashi Ayro and seven others. The attack comes as the Islamic Courts steps up its attacks on Somali and Ethiopian forces and has overrun villages and districts in central and western Somalia.

The airstrike has been confirmed by Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, the spokesman for Shabab, the youth wing of the radical Islamic Courts Union. "A US warplane bombed us in Dhusamareb district and there were casualties," Robow said in a statement. "This was an unprovoked attack." Press reports indicate at least eight people were killed in the strike.

Robow confirmed that Aden Hashi Ayro and Sheikh Muhyadin Omar, two senior leaders in the Islamic Courts, were among those killed. Ayro was the leader of Shabab and served as an operational commander during the rule of the Islamic Courts. He trained under Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of the Islamic Courts who is also a senior al Qaeda leader. Ayro was sent to train in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan prior to 2001.

Ayro is believed to be behind the deadly string of roadside bombings and suicide attacks against government and Ethiopian forces. In a propaganda audiotape released by Shabab in November 2007, Ayro called for "attacks on African Union troops and expressed his wishes of someday beheading women and children in Addis Ababa."

The Islamic Courts and its affiliate Shabab have stepped up its attacks in Somalia the past several months. Islamic Courts and Shabab fighters attack Somali and Ethiopian forces on a daily basis. The Islamic Courts and Shabab are reported to have taken over districts in the Middle Shabelle, Bay, and Middle Juba regions. More than 100 Somalis are reported as killed during heavy fighting in Mogadishu from April 19-22. The Somali government accused Shabab of executing 20 worshippers in a mosque to trigger the fighting, while Shabab has blamed the Ethiopian military.

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur, the spokesman for al Qaeda-linked Shabab, the youth movement of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union.

Recent strikes targeting the Islamic Courts and Shabab

Today's successful strike is the fifth known US-led airstrike against al Qaeda operatives in Somalia since the Ethiopian operation to drive the Islamic Courts from power was launched in late December 2006. The Ethiopians also launched airstrikes against Islamic Courts fighters who were fleeing into Kenya in early January 2007. The US targeted Hassan Dahir Aweys and Aden Hashi Ayro during this time period.

The US targeted al Qaeda commanders Fazul Abdullah Mohammad, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, and Abu Tala al Sudani during the early 2007 strikes. Fazul was again targeted in June 2007.

Fazul is al Qaeda's operations chief responsible for planning the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the 2002 car bombing attack in Kenya and missile attack on an Israeli airliner. Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan is also wanted for questioning in connection with the 2002 attacks Kenya. Abu Taha al Sudani (or Tariq Abdullah) is al Qaeda's leader in East Africa.

The last airstrike occurred on March 3, 2007, when US struck an al Qaeda safe house in the town of Dobley in southern Somalia, just four miles from the Kenyan border. The US targeted Hassan Turki, who had taken control of the Dobley region in late February. Turki, who was a senior leader in the Islamic Courts and its predecessor, al Itihaad al Islamiyah, is believed to be running a military training camp on the Kenyan-Somali border. Turki is believed to have survived the attack.