Somali Militant Leader Believed Killed in Drone Strike
By HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — An American drone strike in Somalia is believed to have killed a key leader of the Shabab militant group, a United States government official said Friday, as the Obama administration continued its intensified air campaign against the group.

First word of the strike came when the Pentagon press secretary, Peter Cook, said in a statement emailed to reporters that the American military, in cooperation with the government of Somalia, was still assessing whether Thursday’s attack had succeeded in killing Hassan Ali Dhoore, described as an important member of the Shabab security and intelligence wing. Defense Department officials said he was involved in two high-profile attacks in Mogadishu more than a year ago in which Americans were killed.

But one United States official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe initial assessments of the attack, said the military believed that Mr. Dhoore and two others had been killed in the strike, which occurred near Jilib, south of Mogadishu.

In his statement, Mr. Cook said the Shabab leader played a direct role in the Dec. 25, 2014, attack on Mogadishu International Airport, “resulting in the death of several African Union Mission in Somalia personnel and one U.S. citizen.” He said Mr. Dhoore was also “directly responsible” for the March 2015 attack on the Maka al-Mukarram Hotel in Mogadishu, which resulted in the deaths of 15 people, including one Somali-American. Officials said Mr. Dhoore was also involved in the assassination of a dual-citizen member of the Somali Parliament.

A second Defense Department official said the drone had struck in the early evening hours as Mr. Dhoore, who has been under American surveillance on and off for a considerable time, was riding in a vehicle with two other Shabab members.

Last month, American warplanes struck a training camp belonging to the Shabab just as about 150 fighters were undergoing what Defense Department officials said was a graduation ceremony in preparation for a large-scale attack against United States troops and their regional allies in East Africa.

That strike was the largest attack on the Shabab in the more than decade-long American campaign against the Qaeda affiliate in Africa.

索馬利亞恐攻主嫌 傳遭美無人機擊斃

五角大廈1日表示，美國在索馬利亞再度發動無人機攻擊，這次目標鎖定一名涉及首都摩加迪休2起攻擊案的青年黨頭目多爾，據信他曾策畫多起針對美國公民的攻擊案。而數名美國官員透露，這名恐怖集團首腦和另2人已遭擊斃。

五角大廈新聞秘書庫克說，3月31日的無人機空襲是在與索馬利亞官員合作下發動。

據美聯社報導，庫克指出，多爾曾是凱達成員，在索馬利亞青年黨負責安全及情報工作。

一名匿名的美國國防官員說，這次空襲將目標鎖定為多爾搭乘的車輛，當時多爾和另兩名青年黨成員坐在車內。這名官員說：「我們斷斷續續監視他好長一段時間了。」五角大廈則表示，還在評估多爾是否喪命。

在五角大廈宣布發動無人機攻擊不久後，美國總統歐巴馬表示，部分批評是「合理的」，並承認無人機過去「確實」殺害過無辜民眾。

2014年聖誕節摩加迪休國際機場發生的致命攻擊、2015年3月馬卡穆卡拉馬飯店的恐攻事件，多爾都有涉案。這2起攻擊造成超過30人死亡，包括至少3名美國人。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/world/africa/american-strike-shabab-somalia.html

2016-04-03 世界日報 編譯中心