US Drones Strike Somalia

US drones have moved into yet another nation, this time targeting two men linked to al-Qaeda in Somalia. The strike last week succeeded in wounding the men who are among leaders of the insurgent Islamist group al-Shabab who are collaborating closely with al-Qaeda to organize operations beyond Somalia, according to US officials. Somalia has now become at least the sixth nation where the US is using drones for lethal attacks, notes the Washington Post.

The leaders targeted in the recent attack had “direct ties” to American-born cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who dodged a US drone strike in Yemen earlier this year. Al-Shabab leaders strengthening links with al-Qaeda “have become somewhat emboldened of late, and, as a result, we have become more focused on inhibiting their activities,” explained an official. (More drones stories.)