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WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The White House confirmed Friday that al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in a drone strike launched in Somalia last weekend. The confirmation came after a week of uncertainty whether the targeted strike had been successful.
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Somali officials recovered three bodies from the drone strike site in the remote Shabelle region in what Somali intelligence officer Ahmed Farah described as a "very tough operation." Two bulletproof ambulances transporting the corpses arrived in Mogadishu on Friday to undergo forensic DNA testing.
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Godane was killed in the U.S. military airstrike that was launched near the port city of Barawa, where al-Shabaab leaders were meeting.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest remarked that "Godane's removal is a major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaida affiliate in Africa and reflects years of painstaking work by our intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals."
Godane's death is likely to impact al-Shabaab in the short term because there is no evident successor. Godane played a significant role in directing al-Shabaab operations -- including the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Kenya and forging al-Shabaab's alliance with al-Qaida in 2012.
"Even as this is an important step forward in the fight against al-Shabaab, the United States will continue to use the tools at our disposal -- financial, diplomatic, intelligence and military -- to address the threat that al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups pose to the United States and the American people. We will also continue to support our international partners, particularly the African Union Mission in Somalia, that are working to support the Federal Government of Somalia build a secure and stable future for the Somali people."
