The Pentagon confirmed Monday that a senior Shebab leader targeted in a drone strike in Somalia last week was killed in the attack.

Hassan Ali Dhoore, who was killed Thursday, allegedly was part of the Islamist insurgent group's security and intelligence wing, and had been involved in planning attacks in Mogadishu.

"The Department of Defense has confirmed that Hassan Ali Dhoore, a senior leader of Al-Shebab, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, was killed as a result of a US military strike in Somalia carried out on March 31," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

"He has planned and overseen attacks resulting in the death of at least three US citizens," he added.

Shebab jihadists have claimed responsibility for a string of recent attacks including a twin bombing at a busy restaurant in the Somali city of Baidoa in February.

The strike against Dhoore comes less than a month after US drones and warplanes hammered a Shebab training camp in Somalia, killing more than 150 fighters the Pentagon said were prepping for a "large-scale" attack.

Two Guantanamo Bay inmates transferred to Senegal: Pentagon
Washington (AFP) April 4, 2016 - The Pentagon on Monday announced the transfer of two Libyan inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Senegal.

The two men -- Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby, 55, and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar, born in 1972 -- had been in the controversial US military jail since 2002.

Both had ties to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and Al-Qaeda, according to their leaked prisoner files.

"The United States is grateful to the government of Senegal for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The latest transfers mean the remaining population at the controversial jail is now 89. Thirty-five of these inmates have been approved for transfer to other countries, though the complex process is only completed after rehabilitation and monitoring measures are implemented.

President Barack Obama in February presented Congress with a new plan to close Guantanamo, which he says serves only to stoke anti-US resentment and fuel jihadi recruitment.

But Republican lawmakers firmly oppose the jail's closure, especially because Obama wants to transfer the highest-risk detainees to a site in the United States, so his plan is likely doomed.

"The administration is determined to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The continued operation of the detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and serving as a propaganda tool for violent extremists," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.

Senegal is one of 26 countries that have agreed to resettle nearly 100 detainees since 2009.

"This significant humanitarian gesture is consistent with Senegal's leadership on the global stage," Kerry said.

Mahjour Umar had been held on suspicion of helping re-establish Al-Qaeda camps following their destruction by US bombings in 1998, and was identified as an explosives and weapons trainer, according to his leaked file.

Ghereby's file states that he had attended multiple training camps and received explosives training from a senior Al-Qaeda explosives expert.

The Pentagon said the men were approved for transfer after multiple agencies reviewed their cases.

Guantanamo Bay is a US naval base carved out of a remote chunk of land on the tip of southeastern Cuba. The administration of George W. Bush opened the prison to hold terror suspects soon after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

In all, it has housed about 780 inmates over the years.