UPDATE: a senior Al-Shabaab commander last week Wednesday night was killed and lethal weapons recovered in his hideout during an operation in Somali capital Mogadishu.
Local administrators confirmed killing of Al-Shabaab senior leader identified as Ja'far Kukay during a covert operation by Somalia's security forces in Benadir region, Heliwa District of Mogadishu.
According to Abdifitah Omar Halane, the spokesman from the Benadir region, security forces conducted an operation at Suka-Holaha neighborhood in Mogadishu and killed Al-Shabaab leader named Ja'far Kukay after he resisted arrest. Assortment of lethal weapons including AK 47 rifles, hand grenades, IED making materials, RPGs were recovered from his hideout.
Several suspected l-Shabaab operatives were also arrested during the operation. Further military reports indicate Kukay has been involved in a series of attacks in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
On January 2, 2017, Al-Shabaab extremists believed were from his unit laid siege near the base of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and a luxury hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu whereby two people were killed and several others injured in twin blasts.
