Nairobi, March 13 (IANS): A senior Al Shabaab commander was killed in southern Somalia in a drone attack, a Kenyan security official confirmed on Friday.

Adan Garaar, who allegedly planned Kenya's Westgate mall attack in 2013, was killed along with two others after their car was targeted on Thursday near the southern Somali town of Bardhere, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We had been informed that Adan Garrar, one of the key terrorists involved in planning of Westgate mall attacks was killed by drone strike on Thursday evening," said the official who sought anonymity.

The strike happened barely few hours after the militant group launched an attack at a regional administration headquarter in central Somalia, killing 10 people and injuring scores of others.

The US has carried out a number of similar strikes targeting key Al Shabaab militants, killing top leader Ali Godane in September and the group's intelligence leader Tahlil in late 2014.

Westgate Mall, a shopping centre popular among expatriates and wealthy locals in the capital Nairobi, was attacked by Islamist militant group Al Shabaab in September 2013.

At least 67 people were killed in the terror attack, one of the deadliest on Kenyan soil in the past decade.

The group has also carried out a string of revenge attacks in neighbouring countries, including the planned attacks in Kampala and Mombasa which were however foiled in 2014.