Somalia government says it killed al Shabaab co-founder

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Somalia’s government said late on Sunday, October 2, that it had killed Abdullahi Nadir, one of the co-founders of Islamist militant group al Shabaab, in an operation with international partners.

The country’s information ministry said that the operation that killed Nadir happened on Saturday, October 1.

It said he was al-Shabab’s chief prosecutor and was in line to replace the group’s leader, Ahmed Diriye, who is sick.

“His death is a thorn removed from the Somali nation,” the statement said. “The government is grateful to the Somali people and international friends whose cooperation facilitated the killing of this leader who was an enemy of the Somali nation.”

In recent weeks, Somali security forces have touted gains made against the al-Qaeda-linked group while fighting alongside local self-defence groups.

But al-Shabab has continued to conduct deadly raids, including two last Friday that killed at least 16 people.