http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world ... 615537.htmTop foreigner commander killed in drone attack near Mogadishu
English.news.cn 2012-01-22 03:02:54
MOGADISHU, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- A senior foreign commander of the radical group of Al-Shabaab was killed in a drone attack on Saturday on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, Al- Shabaab spokesman said.
Bilal Barjawi, a British passport holder of Lebanese extraction, was killed following a drone attack on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, Ali Rageh, spokesman for Al-Shabaab said.
"Our brother was martyred by a drone plane. He was one of the top leaders of the Jihad in Somalia," Rageh said in a radio address following the killing of the one of the top foreign fighters along the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab.
Rageh said Barjawi was in his thirtieth and joined the group's fight against the Somali government and African Union peacekeepers since 2006 during the rule of much of south and centre of Somalia by Islamists.
This is the latest setback to face the militants group in Somalia which has already lost ground to a number of major towns launched by allied Somali government and AU peacekeepers in Mogadishu as well as Kenyan and Ethiopian troops in the south and west of the country respectively.
The group blamed the United States for carrying out the attack, saying the US government has previously targeted Al-Shabaab leaders. The U.S. has not so far commented on the incident.
The U.S. forces have killed a number of Al-Shabaab commanders including some foreign leaders of the radical group in the past.
Al-Shabaab spokesman said that the death of the senior Al- Shabaab commander will lead to the growth of the group's ranks. Hundreds of foreign fighters are known to fight along the ranks of Al-Shabaab militias in Somalia.
