Mastermind behind Garissa University College massacre 'killed' in military operation

KISMAYO, Somalia, June 1 (UPI) -- Somali officials say the leader of last year's massacre at Garissa University College in Kenya is dead.

Mohamed Kuno was reportedly one of 16 people killed in a military operation Tuesday night in Kismayo, a port city in southern Somalia.

Four of those who also died were said to be senior members of the al-Shabab Islamist militant group.

The news was confirmed Wednesday at a press conference held by Somali security minister Abdirashid Janan in the region of Jubaland.

Kuno was behind the attack in April 2015 that killed 148 people, the majority students. Afterward, Kenya's government put up a $215,000 reward for his capture.

A Kenyan-Somali, he was a headmaster at an Islamic school in Garissa until 2007. But then he crossed the border into Somalia to join the Union of Islamic Courts, which at one point controlled much of the country.

Kuno later joined the militant group Hizbul Islam, which in 2010 merged with al-Shabab.