Al Qaeda's head killed in airstrike

MOGADISHU: The head of the Al Qaeda network in Somalia has been killed in an air strike, a spokesman of an Islamist group said here on Thursday.

Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, who headed the al-Shabab (The Youth) outfit, was killed late on Wednesday in the strike targetting his home in the central Somali town of Dusamareeb, said Sheik Muqtar Robow, spokesman for the al-Shabab militia.

Four planes took part in the attack, which was carried out by US forces, witnesses said.
 
Officials said Ayro was trained in Afghanistan and headed the Al Qaeda network in Somalia, where thousands of people have been killed in terror related violence last year.

The US has designated al-Shabab as a foreign terrorist organisation.