Al-Shabaab Leader Killed as Kenya and al-Shabaab Trade Blows

On Thursday March 18^th, Pentagon officials confirmed that Adan Garar was killed the previous week as a drone strike targeted his vehicle. Garar, who was involved in al-Shabaab’s Amniyat network, is believed to have been involved in the planning of the Westgate mall attack which killed 67 people. The Department of Defense’s brief statement identified him as a “key operative responsible for coordinating al-Shabaab’s external operations” and a “major threat to the region and the international community.” This strike comes roughly one month after another drone strike killed Yusef Dheeq who was also involved in the planning of external operations.

The Garar strike took place amidst a series of blows exchanged between Kenya and al-Shabaab. After al-Shabaab attacked a Kenyan governor’s convoy, Kenyan jets struck al-Shabaab bases near the Kenyan border last week. An additional al-Shabaab attack roughly 60 miles into Kenya killed four locals when al-Shabaab operatives threw a grenade into a small shop. According to the BBC, this was the fourth attack in five days in the region. Although the majority of al-Shabaab attacks have been launched within Somalia, they have also attacked states participating in counterterrorism operations through the African Union in Somalia. These retributive attacks have been headlined by the aforementioned Westgate Mall attack in Kenya and an attack on World Cup watchers in Kampala, Uganda.