The US military said on Wednesday that a drone strike in Somalia last week killed a senior Al-Shabaab figure linked to the notorious 2013 attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi.
The US drone raid on March 12 struck a vehicle carrying Adan Garar, who “was a key operative responsible for coordinating Al-Shabaab’s external operations” and was “connected” to the Westgate massacre, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Garar is believed to be behind the 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.
The U.S. describes Garar as “a key operative” who was “responsible for coordinating al-Shabab’s external operations, which target U.S. persons and other Western interests.”
The Pentagon believes he “posed a major threat to the region and international community.”
The operation took place about 150 miles (240 km) west of Mogadishu near the town of Dinsoor.
