Top Al-Shabaab Leader, Maalim Ayman, Taken Down by US and Somali Forces
On December 17, Somali and US forces successfully carried out a joint operation resulting in the death of Maalim Ayman, a high-ranking member of the Al-Shabaab extremist group in Somalia and Kenya. The announcement was made by Somali Minister for Information Daud Aweis on Friday.
Ayman was the mastermind behind multiple deadly terrorist attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries, according to Aweis.
One significant incident was the 2020 attack on Kenya’s Manda Bay Airfield, targeting US and Kenyan personnel. This assault claimed the lives of three Americans, including a soldier and two civilian contractors, with two additional US service members and one civilian contractor sustaining injuries, as stated by the US Department of State.
The US government had offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to Ayman’s arrest or conviction earlier this year. Al-Shabaab has long been recognized as a terrorist group by both the US and the UN Security Council.
(Original information sourced from CNN)