US drone strike kills al-Shabab leader responsible for Kenyan mall attack

A US drone strike has killed a top terror leader believed to have masterminded the brutal attack on a Kenyan shopping mall that killed 67 people.

Al ShababAP

Al Shabab is the Somalian branch of al Qaeda

Adan Garar, a member of al-Shabab, was killed in the March 12 strike on his vehicle near Diinsoor, a town 150 miles west of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the US defence department confirmed.

Garar was a “key operative” responsible for coordinating the Somali branch of al-Qaeda’s operations which targeted Western citizens to “further al Qaeda’s goals and objectives”, a Pentagon official said.

A spokesman for the US Department of Defence said: "Garar posed a major threat to the region and the international community and was connected to the Westgate Mall attack that killed dozens of people in Nairobi, Kenya on September 13, 2013.

"His death has dealt another significant blow to the al Shabab terrorist organisation in Somalia."

Residents said at the time of the strike that the drone had hit a car carrying three al-Shabab members and the vehicle was completely burnt.

In September al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was also killed in a US airstrike near Mogadishu.

Six Britons were among 67 people killed in the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall shopping centre in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

Al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility for the assault and there was speculation British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite – known as the ‘White Widow’ and who was married to 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay – may have been connected.

One of the Britons killed, Mitul Shah, 38, a London-born father-of-one caught up in the siege, was hailed a hero for reportedly offering himself as a hostage to allow children to escape from militants.

The youngsters were taking part in a televised cooking competition sponsored by his company when the terrorists descended on the shopping centre.

The US has been conducting a number of drone strikes over the past year.

His death has dealt another significant blow to the al Shabab terrorist organisation in Somalia

US defence department spokesman

Six Britons were among 67 people killed in the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall shopping centre in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

Al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility for the assault and there was speculation British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite – known as the ‘White Widow’ and who was married to 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay – may have been connected.

One of the Britons killed, Mitul Shah, 38, a London-born father-of-one caught up in the siege, was hailed a hero for reportedly offering himself as a hostage to allow children to escape from militants.

The youngsters were taking part in a televised cooking competition sponsored by his company when the terrorists descended on the shopping centre.

The US has been conducting a number of drone strikes over the past year.

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