Al-Shabab leader killed

The Pentagon said that Ahmed Abdi Godane was the target of a US airstrike on Monday. The Pentagon's press secretary John Kirby said in a statement: "We have confirmed that Ahmed Godane, the co-founder of al-Shabab, has been killed."

The White House said in a statement that Godane's removal was a "major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaida affiliate in Africa."

US targeted al-Shabab's convoys with drone strikes on Monday, but it was unclear whether he had been killed in the attack. According to Somali officials, at least three convoys were destroyed in the bombing.

Godane was the co-founder of the al-Shabab group, which is responsible for many suicide attacks in Somalia and other African countries. Last year in September, the group carried out a suicide attack at the Westgate Mall in Kenya's capital Nairobi, killing at least 67 people. In 2010, the group's militants were responsible for suicide bombings in Uganda that left more than 70 people dead.

Somalia's government has been battling the al-Shabab militia for over a decade with support from western countries and its African neighbors. Last month, the Somali government said it had launched a new offensive on the militants but earlier this week, an al-Shabab attack in Mogadishu killed 15 people.

The group seeks to establish an Islamic state in Somalia and joined hands with the al-Qaida in 2012.

mg/dr (Reuters, dpa, AFP)