Somalia: An air strike in southern Somalia has killed two senior commanders of the militant Islamist group, Al-Shabaab, residents have told the BBC.
The strike destroyed the vehicle the militants were travelling in between the towns of Jilib and Barawe, seen as a major base of Al-Shabaab, they said.
The US launched a failed raid in Barawe earlier this month to capture an Al-Shabaab commander.
Al-Shabab is the main Al-Qaeda-linked group in East Africa.
A Kenyan military source told the BBC their troops had raided Jilib, and that there might have been some casualties.
However, correspondents say it is unlikely that they carried out the air strike.
Residents of Jilib, some 120km north of the port of Kismayo, told the BBC that it was probably a drone attack that killed the Al-Shabaab commanders.
One of those killed was explosives expert Ibrahim Ali, also known as Anta Anta or Abu Ali, Somali Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled told state radio.
This was confirmed by an Al-Shabaab member speaking to the Associated Press.
“This afternoon, I heard a big crash and saw a drone disappearing far into the sky, at least two militants died,” local resident Hassan Nur was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying on Monday.
“I witnessed a Suzuki car burning, many Al-Shabaab men came to the scene. I could see them carry the remains of two corpses,” he said.
“It was a heavy missile that the drone dropped. Many cars were driving ahead of me but the drone targeted this Suzuki.”
US commandos raided Barawe after the attack but had to retreat after meeting heavy resistance.
The US was believed to have sought to capture Al-Shabaab commander Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir, also known as Ikrima.
Barawe residents say Ikrima is an Al-Shabaab leader with responsibility for logistics, who is usually accompanied by about 20 well-armed guards.
The US has carried out a series of air strikes in Somalia.
In 2008, one killed Al-Shabaab commander Aden Hashi Ayro.
A year later, another strike killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was accused of involvement in the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi and the 2002 attacks on a hotel and airline in Mombasa.
Fragile recovery
Al-Shabaab said in January 2011 that a missile launched from a drone had killed Bilal el Berjawi, a Lebanese al Shabaab fighter who held a British passport.
Another missile killed four foreign militants south of the Somali capital Mogadishu in February 2012.
The US has a large military base in Djibouti, which borders Somalia.
Al-Shabaab has been driven out of several major towns and cities in southern Somalia but it still controls many rural areas.
Al-Shabaab was driven out of Mogadishu in late 2011 and 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.
Still, Western nations are worried that Somalia will sink back into chaos and provide a launchpad for Islamist militancy despite a fragile recovery after two decades of war.
Al-Shabaab admitted that it was behind last months attack at Westgate Mall in Nairobi, which left at least 67 people were killed.
Agencies
