Islamist rebel leader killed in US strike: Somali government

The Somali prime minister confirmed the death of Ahmed Godane

Update: 2014-09-05 21:32 GMT
In this Feb. 13, 2012 file photo, an armed member of the militant group al-Shabab attends a rally in support of the merger of the Somali militant group al-Shabab with al-Qaida, on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia. U.S. military forces targeted
Mogadishu: The Somali prime minister said on Friday that Ahmed Godane, head of the Islamist militant group Al Shabaab, was killed in a US strike this week, although the group that is waging an insurgency against the government has yet to comment.
 
US officials had said on Wednesday that they were still checking to see whether Monday's U.S. missile strike on an al Shabaab encampment had killed Godane, who was appointed leader in 2008 after his predecessor was killed in a U.S. attack.
 
"We tell the Somalis that Godane is dead," Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed said on his Facebook page, the first government confirmation of his death.

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