A US airstrike in Somalia has killed an al Shabaab leader who launched terrorist attacks that killed American citizens, US officials say.
They said the drone raid targeted Hassan Ali Dhoore, a top militant with the al Qaeda affiliate who had been linked to two attacks in Mogadishu.
US officials told the Associated Press news agency that Dhoore and two others died in Thursday's strike about 20 miles south of Jilib.
Dhoore allegedly helped carry out a Christmas Day 2014 attack at the airport in the Somali capital.
He was also suspected of a March 2015 siege at the Maka al Mukarramah Hotel, also in the city, said US officials.
American citizens were among those killed, they added.
The strike comes weeks after the Pentagon says it killed more than 150 al Shabaab fighters in Somalia.
That attack used both manned aircraft and unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones to target a training camp about 120 miles north of Mogadishu.
Al Shabaab was driven out of Mogadishu by African Union forces in 2011.
But it continues to launch attacks against the Western-backed government.
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