US airstrike kills extremist al-Shabab leader: 'Thorn removed from the Somali nation'

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The U.S. military carried out an airstrike on an al-Shabab militant network over the weekend in Somalia that killed a leader of the extremist group, U.S. Africa Command and the Somali government said on Monday. 

The strike on Saturday took out Abdullahi Nadir, who had a $3 million bounty on his head and was inline to replace al-Shabab's leader. 

"His death is a thorn removed from the Somali nation, and the Somali people will be relieved from his misguidance and horrific acts," the Somali government said in a statement. 

In this file photo, hundreds of newly trained al-Shabab fighters perform military exercises in the Lafofe area south of Mogadishu, in Somalia.  (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)

The al Qaeda-linked group has thousands of fighters in Somalia and has claimed responsibility for a series of terror attacks in recent months, including one on a Somali government office in the Hiran region that left 20 people dead on Monday. 

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"Al-Shabab is the largest and most kinetically active al Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces and threaten U.S. security interests," U.S. Africa Command said in a statement. 

A soldier patrols outside the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday Aug, 20, 2022.  (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

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Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office in May, recently vowed "total war" against al-Shabab. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.