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.)
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…