A suspected U.S. drone strike reportedly killed at least two Islamist al-Shabaab terrorists who were driving in a car in Mogadishu on Monday, Reuters reported.
The drone fired a missile "at the car in the outskirts of Jilib town in the Middle Jubba region, some 120 kilometers to the north of the port of Kismayu to the south," Reuters also reported.
"This afternoon, I heard a big crash and saw a drone disappearing far into the sky, at least two militants died," resident Hassan Nur said.
"I witnessed a Suzuki car burning, many al Shabaab men came to the scene. I could see them carry the remains of two corpses. It was a heavy missile that the drone dropped. Many cars were driving ahead of me but the drone targeted this Suzuki," Nur added.
Voice of America (VOA) reported that Ibrahim Ali Abdi, the mastermind of al-Shabaab's suicide missions, was killed in the attack. "Abdi, who was also known as Anta Anta, planned bombings in Somaliland in 2008 that struck the presidential palace, the Ethiopian consulate and the U.N. Development Program office," VOA reported.
Al Shabaab terrorists had been driven out of Mogadishu in late 2011, and have since struggled "to hold on to territory elsewhere in the face of attacks by Kenyan, Ethiopian and African Union forces trying to prevent Islamist militancy spreading out from Somalia," Reuters also reported
Al Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the terror attack on September 21 at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi Kenya where 67 innocents wre killed, is a brazen al Qaeda linked group, which originated in 2006.
Al-Shabaab means "The Youth."
Two U.N. human rights investigators, Ben Emmerson and Christof Heyns, called for more transparency from the U.S. and other countries about drone strikes program in a presentation in New York, The Associated Press also reported.
Emmerson and Heyns called on other countries to speak up about "when deadly drone strikes are acceptable. They said the lack of consensus risk creating anarchy as more countries acquire the technology," The AP added.
"Drones are not inherently illegal weapons. They are here to stay,The main focus should be on legal parameters" on when to use them, Heynes said.
"We all recognize that the moment other states start to use this technology in similar ways, we are facing a situation which could escalate into a breakdown of peace and security," added Emmerson, who serves as the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism.
