Nairobi, Sep 6 (IANS): Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Saturday vowed to forge ahead with anti-terrorism measures to ensure that the country is secure.
In a statement issued in response to the death of Ahmed Abdi Godane, leader and co-founder of Al Shabaab, in Somalia early this week, Kenyatta thanked the US for killing Godane in a military operation in Somalia, Xinhua reported.
He said the US State Department has now confirmed that its operation led to the death of Godane who was responsible for the attack on Westgate mall in Kenya's capital Nairobi last year in which a large number of civilians were killed or injured.
"His (Godane) death is a stark reminder that those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword," Kenyatta said.
The Kenyan leader's statement came a day after Washington confirmed the death of Godane.
Washington also called the death of Godane "a major symbolic and operational loss" for Al Qaeda's largest and deadliest affiliate in Africa.
US drones struck inside Somalia Monday night in an effort to kill Godane, but American intelligence was not able to immediately confirm whether the operation was a success. The confirmation came Friday in a statement from the Pentagon.
At least three strikes hit a convoy of the militants' vehicles in southern Somalia Monday night killing at least six Al Shabaab fighters.
Kenyatta recalled that in August 2013, armed terrorists entered the Westgate mall and committed "some of the most savage crimes ever perpetrated on Kenyan soil".
"Kenya, with its partners and allies, will do everything it can to secure itself and the region. And we will stand in solidarity with the victims of the Westgate attack, for whom Godane's death provides a small measure of closure," Kenyatta vowed.
Godane assumed the leadership of the terrorist group in 2008 after then chief Adan Hashi Ayro was killed by a US missile strike.
Godane, who was also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, was Al Shabaab's spiritual leader and led the Somali militants to forge an alliance with the Al Qaeda.