Eyewitnesses say missile came from a drone amid reports
dead men are senior members of the al-Shabab armed group.
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A suspected drone strike has
hit a car in southern Somalia and killed two fighters from the armed group
al-Shabab, witnesses said.
The men were the only
occupants of the vehicle and no one else was harmed, they said. The witnesses
blamed the United States, which has carried out drone strikes in Somalia
before, for the attack.
It was after afternoon prayers between 1:30pm and 2pm
when I heard a loud bang. Just one big bang. Witness in
Jilib town
An al-Shabab member, who gave
his name as Abu Mohamed, told the Associated Press news agency that one of
those killed was al-Shabab's top explosives expert, known as Anta.
AP reported that both of the
men killed were senior members of the group.
Four witnesses at the scene
confirmed the strike to Al Jazeera and said that both fighters killed were
Somali. The rebels are known to have foreign fighters in their ranks.
Al-Shabab, a rebel group
fighting Somalia's Western-backed government, did not comment.
The witnesses said the strike
happened near the town of Jilib, 114km north of al-Shabab's former stronghold
of Kismayu. Jilib is the most populous town in the horn of Africa nation's
Middle Juba region.
"It was after afternoon
prayers between 1:30pm and 2pm when I heard a loud bang. Just one
big bang," a witness from Jilib told Al Jazeera.
"I came to the scene
shortly after. I saw two dead bodies. Then al-Shabab fighters came to scene
and took the bodies from the Suzuki vehicle. It was a drone strike."
Earlier this month, US forces
carried out a dawn-raid on an al-Shabab base in the town of Barawe but failed
to capture their intended target after a gunbattle. One rebel fighter died in
the firefight.
In September, al-Shabab
launched an assault on a shopping mall in Nairobi, the capital of
neighbouring Kenya, which left at least 67 people dead.
Follow Hamza Mohamed on
Twitter: @Hamza_Africa
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Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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Monday, October 28, 2013
'Drone' kills two in Somalia: witnesses
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