Deputy head of Islamic State in Somalia killed by airstrike

<p>The deputy leader of Islamic State, IS, in Somalia has been killed by an airstrike that hit a car he was travelling in with another occupant, the <span class="caps">VOA</span> Somali service reports.</p> <p>A regional security minister also confirmed the death of Abdihakim Dhoqob. The incident took place in the east of the country’s Puntland region today (April 14).</p> <p>Minister Abdisalam Mohamed Gallan told Harun Maruf, a <span class="caps">VOA</span> journalist who extensively covers Somalia that the slain IS leader’s vehicle was hit near Hiriro village located in Puntland’s Bari region.</p> <p>Somalia’s major security headache has been the incessant terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabaab insurgents. IS has also upped their operations in the country but being far less deadlier than Al-Shabaab.</p> <p>The two groups have routinely clashed in deadly exchanges in what analysts say is a battle for turf and supremacy. Even outside of Somalia, Al-Shabaab are known to be active in neighbouring Kenya. Their most recent attack being the abduction of Cuban doctors late last week.</p> <p>The United States as part of their support for the counter-terrorism insurgency has conducted targeted airstrikes on leaders of Al-Shabaab. Their strikes have drawn criticism after it was confirmed that in some instances they have killed civilians for different reasons.</p> <p>Al-Shabaab attacks have earned Somalia the label of one of the deadliest countries in the world along with Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgents.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nigeria, Somalia: Africa's most terrorized countries in 2018 – Report <a href="https://t.co/dxGFjnnNMt">https://t.co/dxGFjnnNMt</a></p>— africanews (@africanews) <a href="https://twitter.com/africanews/status/1070763682714607617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>