German Press Agency dpa
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
National Security Minister Abdullahi Mohamed Ali confirmed to the BBC that a senior figure had been killed, but refused to name him.
Ibrahim had reportedly replaced Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan as al-Qaeda's top man in Somalia. Kenyan-born Nabhan was killed in a US strike on Somali soil in September.
The US has been tracking Nabhan since the 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa, which claimed 15 lives.
He was also suspected of being behind a near-simultaneous failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner as it left Mombasa.
Al-Shabaab, which recently announced that is was joining al-Qaeda's international Jihad, denied the claims.
The insurgent group, along with its ally Hizbul Islam, is pushing to oust the weak Western-backed government and controls much of Mogadishu and south and central Somalia.
A major government offensive is planned in the coming days, and thousands of civilians have been streaming out of the city .
Somalia is still locked in a full-scale insurgency one year after the appointment of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed - a former insurgent ally - as president raised hopes of peace.
However, al-Shabaab dismissed Sheikh Sharif as a traitor, and intensified their campaign.
The Horn of African nation has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
More than 20,000 people have died in the current insurgency, which kicked off in early 2007 after Ethiopian forces invaded to oust an Islamist regime that ruled for six months in 2006.
Source: German Press Agency (DPA)