AU, Somali forces kill top Al-Shabaab commander, 22 others in Mogadishu

The Africa Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) and Somalia National Army (SNA) forces on Friday night killed a senior commander of the terrorist group Al-Shabaab in a joint security operation in Janaale, south of the capital Mogadishu.

AMISOM's Sector One Commander Brigadier General Sam Okiding confirmed on Saturday that Al-Shabaab commander for the region of Janaale Abdirashir Buqdube, together with 22 others, was killed following air strikes and ground operations against the insurgents' hideout along the Buufow road.

"Al-Shabaab cannot hide and we shall continue to work hard to deny them safe haven until the people have been liberated from Al-Shabaab terror," Okiding said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

He said a further dozen terrorists had been killed over the last two days as they attempted to ambush and disrupt AMISOM and SNA troops that were undertaking developmental activities such as borehole repairs and clearing up of roads for free movement around the area.

"AMISOM and SNA forces shall continue clearing these roads as we have so far completed two major roads: one from Beldamin to Qoryooley and another from Beldamin to Shalamboti," Okiding said.

"We are now clearing the one from Buufow to Janaale where Al-Shabaab have been trying to put up resistance," he added.

The AU commander said the allied forces will continue to clean up Al-Shabaab held areas in Janaale to liberate residents of Al-Shabaab tyranny.

The latest incident came after reports that another senior Al-Shabaab commander who was part of Al-Shabaab's security and intelligence wing, Hassan Ali Dhoore was killed in southern Somalia on Friday.

The U.S. Pentagon also confirmed that it conducted an airstrike against Dhoore, a senior leader of the Al-Qaida-affiliated extremist group in the Horn of Africa nation. However, Pentagon said it was yet to confirm his death.

According to Pentagon, Dhoore had planned and overseen attacks resulting in the death of at least three U.S. citizens, and he was also believed to have been plotting attacks targeting U.S. citizens in Mogadishu.

Dhoore was also directly responsible for the March 27, 2015 attack on the Maka al-Mukarram Hotel in Mogadishu, resulting in the deaths of 15 people, including one Somali-American national. Endit