US Drone Strike Kills al-Shabab Leader Maalim Ayman

Ayman, Accused of Masterminding Deadly Attacks in Kenya, Confirmed Dead by Somali and American Officials

Maalim Ayman, a senior leader of the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab, was killed in a US military drone strike on December 17.
Ayman was believed to be responsible for multiple attacks, including the assault on a military base in Manda Bay, Kenya, in 2020 that killed two US contractor pilots and a US soldier, and the 2015 attack on Garissa University in northeastern Kenya, which resulted in the deaths of 148 people.
The strike on Ayman was a joint operation with the Somali national army and took place near Jilib, an al-Shabab-controlled stronghold in southern Somalia.
The US Africa Command confirmed the strike but did not officially identify the target. However, a US military official and Somalia’s information minister confirmed Ayman's death.
Somalia, with the assistance of forces from the African Union and the United States, has been fending off attacks by al-Shabab since 2006.