Somalia's National Security Forces killed a regional leader of the al-Shabaab terror group and his three associates in a raid in the country's southern Bariiree area, Sputnik reported Sunday.
According to Mareeg Media outlet, Moalin Osman Abdi Badil, who had been heading the group in Lower Shabelle region, was killed on Friday.
The raid came a day after a US service member was killed in a Somali military-led operation in the same area west of the country's capital, Mogadishu.
Somalia has been experiencing violence since the country devolved into civil war in the early 1990s. The state’s collapse provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and al-Shabaab. The terror group, which is linked to al-Qaeda has been staging numerous attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.