On social network X, Somalia said the senior leader of al Shabaab was killed in a joint operation by the Somali National Army with the support of US forces on December 17.
On December 21, Somali Information Minister Daud Aweis announced that Somali and US forces had killed senior leader Maalim Ayman of the Islamist militant group al Shabaab, who had planned to carry out many attacks in Somalia and Kenya.
On social network X, Mr. Aweis said Maalim Ayman was killed in a joint operation by the Somali National Army with the support of US forces on December 17.
He pointed out that Ayman played a role in planning many bloody terrorist attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said US forces conducted an airstrike on al Shabaab targets near the town of Jilib, southern Somalia.
Maalim Ayman is on the US State Department's Most Wanted list. AFRICOM has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
Al-Shabaab has been waging an insurgency against the Somali government for more than 15 years.
The Somali National Army supported by the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) has driven al-Shabaab out of the capital Mogadishu from five public locations.
According to VNA