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Top Somali militant killed in air strike

This article is more than 15 years old

The man believed to be the head of al-Qaida in Somalia has been killed in a US air strike, an Islamic insurgent group claimed today.

The al-Shabaab militia said the assault killed nine people, including its leader, Aden Hashi Ayro, and his brother.

Six others were wounded in the assault on the central Somali town of Dusamareeb.

A spokesman for al-Shabaab said the group would continue to fight for its cause, despite the loss of its leader.

"This would not deter us from continuing our holy war against Allah's enemy; we will be on the right way, that is why we are targeted," Sheik Muqtar Robow told the Associated Press.

Somali government officials believe Ayro trained in Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks and headed up al-Qaida's cell in Somalia.

He was a key figure in the al-Shabab movement, the armed wing of the Council of Islamic Courts movement, which opposes the Mogadishu government and wants to impose Islamic law in the country.

According to local reports, five of the nine dead were inside the targeted house when the strike happened in the early hours of yesterday morning. The other casualties were in neighbouring buildings.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the air strike on the town, 310 miles north of Mogadishu.

In the past, the US military has attacked suspected extremists in the east African country.

Branded terrorists by Washington, al-Shabaab has led an Iraq-style insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian allies since early 2007.

The insurgency began when the Council of Islamic Courts lost control of Mogadishu, after ruling south Somalia for the last six months of 2006.

Civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict between the gunmen and Somali troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers, which a local rights group says killed 6,500 civilians last year.

The US has accused the group of harbouring international terrorists linked to al-Qaida and is concerned Somalia is becoming a breeding ground for terrorist groups.

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