According to Somali Minister for Information Daud Aweis, on Friday, Maalim Ayman, a top leader of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group operating in Somalia and Kenya, was killed on December 17 by a joint military operation involving the Somali and US forces.
“Ayman was accountable for planning multiple lethal terrorist attacks in Somalia and nearby countries,” Mr. Aweis said in a statement on social media.
Most notably, according to US sources, Mr. Ayman is accountable for the terrorist attack that occurred on January 5, 2020, at Kenya's Manda Bay Airfield that targeted US and Kenyan personnel.
There were three American casualties: two civilian contractors and one soldier. A statement from the US Department of State stated that one civilian contractor and two additional US service members were injured.
In January of this year, the US government announced a bounty of up to $10 million for "information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of Maalim Ayman."
Both the US and a committee of the UN Security Council classified Al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization in 2008.
The US State Department has been contacted by CNN for a response.
