--- description: The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that a U.S. drone strike has killed a leader of Somali militant group al-Shabab. title: U.S. Confirms Al-Shabaab Leader Killed in Drone Strike image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [National Security](/tag/national-security/) ## National Security Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Al-Shabab Leader Killed in Drone Strike by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2015 5:21 AM CUT by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2015 5:21 AM CUT An American drone strike has killed a leader of Somali militant group al-Shabab, the Pentagon[ confirmed](http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=17186 "undefined") Wednesday. Adan Garar was hit by a drone missile near the town of Diinsoor, southern Somalia, on March 12, according to the U.S. Defense Department. Garar is believed to be behind the 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people. The U.S. describes Garar as “a key operative” who was “responsible for coordinating al-Shabab’s external operations, which target U.S. persons and other Western interests.” The Pentagon believes he “posed a major threat to the region and international community.” Just hours before Garar’s death was confirmed, al-Shabab, a militant Islamist organization, [attacked ](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31943623 "undefined")a shop in the Kenyan town of Wajir, killing four people. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3750378/al-shabaab-adan-garar-killed-drone-strike-u-s-pentagon-confirmed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3750378/al-shabaab-adan-garar-killed-drone-strike-u-s-pentagon-confirmed/"},"headline":"Al-Shabab Leader Killed in Drone Strike","datePublished":"2015-03-19T05:21:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:16:23.326Z","description":"Adan Garar is believed to have masterminded the 2013 Westgate Mall massacre in Nairobi","url":"https://time.com/3750378/al-shabaab-adan-garar-killed-drone-strike-u-s-pentagon-confirmed/","keywords":["National Security","Pentagon","Drones","Department of Defense","Somalia","al-shabab","Al-Shabaab"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3750378/al-shabaab-adan-garar-killed-drone-strike-u-s-pentagon-confirmed/","name":"Al-Shabab Leader Killed in Drone Strike"}}]}] ```