Somalia Raid Kills Shabab Leader and 3 Associates
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMAY 7, 2017
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s military killed one of the Shabab’s regional leaders
and three associates in a raid, the government said on Sunday, shortly after the killing of a Navy SEAL who was supporting a Somali military operation.
"Defect, as many of your brothers are beginning to do." Somalia’s military is under growing pressure to take full responsibility
for the country’s security as a multinational African Union force prepares to start withdrawing in 2018.
Moalin Osman Abdi Badil, the group’s leader in the Lower Shabelle region,
and three others were killed on Friday in the village of Bariire, west of Mogadishu, the government said.
The Pentagon called it the first American combat death in Somalia since the "Black Hawk Down" battle in 1993, when two helicopters were shot down
and the bodies of American soldiers were dragged through the streets.
The United States military has been supporting the country in recent years with a small number of Special Operations forces
and counterterrorism advisers, along with numerous airstrikes against the Shabab.
Somalia’s new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, declared the country a war zone on April 6 and began a new offensive against the Shabab.