Extremist group al-Shabaab has named its new leader, after Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in a US airstrike on Monday.
The Somali militants unanimously selected Abu Ubeid Ahmed Omar today, said rebel commander Abu Mohammed, although that is believed to be an assumed name and his real identity is not yet known.
The group, which claimed responsibility for the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, also reaffirmed its alignment with al-Qaeda, according to Site Intelligence Group, which monitors statements by Islamic militant groups.
Godane and other al-Shabaab officials were killed when two cars were hit by an unmanned drone strike in southern Somalia. It was thought six people were killed in total.
A White House statement released earlier this week said: “Godane’s removal is a major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaeda affiliate in Africa and reflects years of painstaking work by our intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals.
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“Even as this is an important step forward in the fight against al-Shabaab, the United States will continue to use the tools at our disposal – financial, diplomatic, intelligence and military – to address the threat that al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups pose to the United States and the American people.”
Commander Mohammed said on Saturday that militants were meeting at an undisclosed location to pick a successor.
Somalia’s government said last night that it had credible intelligence al-Shabaab was planning attacks in the wake of Godane’s death.
General Khalif Ahmed Ereg, Somalia’s national security minister, said possible targets included medical and educational institutions.
He described Godane’s death as a “delightful victory” and called on militants to surrender.
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Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta thanked the US for killing Godane and said his death provided “a small measure of closure” for victims of the Westgate Mall attack. Kenyatta’s nephew and his fiance died in that attack, a year ago this month.
Godane, who used a number of aliases, led the planning and was responsible for the perpetration of the attack on Westgate, Kenyatta said.
The president added: “We owe the United States, and its soldiers, our heartfelt thanks for bringing an end to Godane’s career of death and destruction; and finally allowing us to begin our healing.
“His death is a stark reminder that those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword.”
Al-Shabaab has vowed to revenge the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia. Kenyan troops went into Somalia in October 2011 to fight al-Shabaab, which it blamed for cross-border attacks and kidnappings of westerners on Kenyan soil.
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Kenya later became part of the African Union force that is bolstering Somalia’s weak UN-backed government against al-Shabaab’s insurgency.