Key Islamic State Planner Killed in Airstrike, US and Somali Officials Say

Ahmed Maeleninine, an Omani-born leader of Islamic State, was killed in U.S. airstrikes against the terror group in Somalia earlier this month, officials of the Puntland region said Wednesday. Maeleninine was the main target of the Feb. 1 airstrike against Islamic State hideouts in the semi-autonomous region of northern Somalia. In an interview with VOA Somali, the Puntland state minister for presidency, Abdifitah Mohamed Abdinur, said Somalia and its international security partners had been watching Maeleninine’s movements in the region…The U.S. Africa Command confirmed late Tuesday that Maeleninine and 13 other operatives linked to the Islamic State were killed in the Feb. 1 operation, which it said was run in coordination with the Somali government. In a statement, AFRICOM described Maeleninine as a “recruiter, financier, and external operations leader responsible for the deployment of jihadists into the United States and across Europe.”…IS has increased its presence in Somalia over the past several years, while IS-Somalia has become a key cog in the IS financial network, funneling money to affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Africa. VOA