By William Tucker
Chief Correspondent for In Homeland Security
Two leaders of the Somali militant group al-Shabaab were killed in an alleged airstrike today. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen a burning vehicle that was surrounded by al-Shabaab militants immediately after the strike. One witness interviewed by the media claimed that two charred bodies were carried away from the vehicle. Oddly enough, this is about the only aspect of the reporting that makes any sense. One witness claimed that is was a heavy missile that hit the vehicle, while another actually said he saw the drone fly away. Most of the media articles that covered this event seemed confused, so it is possible that these statements came from the same witness. A review of the articles does show some consistency in the claim that Ikrima, a Shabaab leader responsible for logistics, was one of the deceased. Because of the limited coverage of Barawe, where the attack occurred, there is little available to confirm this. The U.S. has carried out UAV strikes in Somalia before, and it is interesting that this attack comes so soon on the heels of the unsuccessful raid to capture another Shabaab militant just a few weeks ago. After the mall attack in Kenya, Shabaab demonstrated its ability to launch devastating international attacks. In doing so, they have raised their profile with the U.S. and will likely be heavily targeted in the near future.
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