Hiiraan Online
Sunday, May 17, 2015
MOGADISHU (HOL) ----The Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia said their fighters seized a suspected US drone which has crashed in a rebel-held area in southern Somalia on Sunday.
Al-Shabab officials told the media that the unmanned aircraft crashed in a village near the mountainous Burhakaba town which is under the control of their fighters.
The small-sized surveillance drones are vital machine helping the US on its covert anti-terror campaign against militants in Somalia. US drones have killed dozens of senior militant leaders including the leader of the group Ahmed Abdi Godane in air strikes for the past few years.
The Pentagon hasn't so far commented on the militants claims; however, the group's run media reported that the crashed drone suffered a heavy damage which might caused the loss of data on its system.
Residents in El-bashir, a small village near Burhakaba in Bay region said that armed militants have surrounded the crash site.
In Somalia, the US continued to target al Shabaab's intelligence and external action wing, Amniyatt. The second drone strike of 2015 killed the Amniyatt leader, Adan Garaar. He succeeded Yusef Dheeq, who was killed in a drone strike in January, according the Bureau Of Investigative Journalism.
Garaar was "connected to the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya" in September 2013. Garaar's death was the latest in a series of drone killings in Somalia that appear to have targeted senior al Shabaab figures focused on terrorist attacks beyond Somalia's borders.
Garaar had replaced Yusef Dheeq in the job, who was killed in a drone strike in January. And Dheeq's predecessor Abdishakur was killed on December 29 2014, according to the the report.