A US airstrike in Somalia killed senior al Shabaab leader Hassan Ali Dhoore on March 31, the Pentagon announced Monday. The Pentagon initially reported the strike on Friday, but had not determined Dhoore’s fate. Dhoore, who was part of al Qaeda and a member of Al Shabaab’s security and intelligence wing, was directly involved in the Christmas 2014 attack on the Mogadishu International Airport and the March 27, 2015, attack on the Maka al-Mukarram Hotel in that city, according to a Department of Defense release. The Pentagon reported Dhoore planned or oversaw attacks that killed at least three US citizens and was plotting more. (See also: More Strikes Possible in Somalia.)
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.