At least 30 members of Somalia's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab militants have been killed in a US drone strike, the Kenyan government has said, but backtracked on its earlier claim that the alleged mastermind of the Garissa University massacre was among the dead.
"Over 30 were killed, among them most wanted terrorists," Kenyan interior ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said on Thursday.
He said that "several masterminds" of a string of recent attacks inside Kenya were killed, but withdrew his earlier statement that the mastermind of the Garissa University massacre - Mohamed Mohamud, also known by the aliases of Dulyadin, Kuno and Gamadhere - was also killed.
"It was a US drone. Kenyan forces usually provide ground support, information and intelligence on such strikes," the spokesman said.
In April, four Shebab militants massacred 148 people at the Garissa University in Kenya's northeast, in what was the group's deadliest single attack to date. Most of the victims were students.
The United States has in recent years launched numerous drone strikes against Shebab leaders, including a strike last September that killed the group's leader Ahmed Abdi Godane.
Thursday's attack came just over a week before US President Barack Obama is due in Kenya for his first visit to the country since he became president.
Sources in Somalia confirmed an overnight air strike had taken place in a Shebab-held area of the war-torn country.
According to traditional elders near Bardhere town in the southern Gedo region, at least two missiles struck vehicles believed to be carrying Shebab commanders.
"We heard two big explosions and the information we are getting indicates that vehicles were targeted close to a Shebab military base," said Abdiwahab Ali, an elder at a village close to the scene.
"Village residents are telling us a missile fired from an aircraft struck a vehicle and a nearby military camp belonging to Shebab," said Hassan Gesle, another elder.
