Shabab Militia Group says one of its commanders killed in Drone strike..

Militant group Shabab said one of its top commanders, Mohamed Mire, was killed in a drone strike near Kunyo Barrow in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle Region, Shabab militia did not say when the strike took place but blamed the United States for the killing…

The United States military command in Africa, AFRICOM, late on Thursday confirmed conducting a Dec. 24 airstrike against al-Shabab, killing two militants some 10 kilometers southwest of Kunyo Barrow. The AFRICOM statement did not name the targeted militants but said no civilians were harmed.

Barre said Mire was traveling from the town of Jilib to Kunyo Barrow when he was targeted outside of the town, Mire was head of al-Shabab’s regions department, the militant group’s equivalent of an interior ministry. He also held multiple other positions within the group.

In July, Somalia’s anti-money laundering committee issued a sanctions list targeting Mire and seven other al-Shabab commanders, U.S. officials designated Mire a global terrorist in October 2022, describing him as a senior al-Shabab leader responsible for the group’s strategic decision-making and head of the group’s interior wing, overseeing many of the group’s activities in Somalia.