Somalia tries to verify if top militant killed

Somali authorities are trying to verify whether the leader of al-Shabab was killed or wounded in a US airstrike, a government spokesman said Wednesday. Somalia's government is certain that the strike hit ‘a gathering’ of leaders of the Islamic extremist al-Shabab group and they are ‘in the processes’ of confirming who was hit in the attack Monday night, said Abdiwali Ridwaan. Ridwaan praised US support in the war on the al-Qaida-linked militant group whose leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, claimed responsibility for a deadly attack a year ago on an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya. The strikes, conducted by special operations forces using manned and unmanned aircraft, targeted Godane, 37, al-Shabab's spiritual leader, the US confirmed Tuesday. The US launched the operation based on ‘actionable’ intelligence, said Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, according to AP.