Al Qaeda affiliate names new leader

A Somalia extremist group and affiliate of al Qaeda, al-Shabab, named Abu Ubeid Ahmed Omar as their new leader on Saturday after their previous leader was killed during a U.S. airstrike this week.

The extremist rebels unanimously chose Omar, the Associated Press reports, noting that the new leader’s name is likely an assumed one.

{mosads}Al Shabab also pledged its continued allegiance to al Qaeda, Site New Intelligence said, according to AP.

On Monday, a U.S. airstrike 105 miles south of Mogadishu, Somalia, where al-Shabab trains its fighters, killed the group’s leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane.

The White House boasted Godane’s death as a blow to the terror organization.

“Godane’s removal is a major symbolic and operational loss to the largest al-Qaeda affiliate in Africa and reflects years of painstaking work by our intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest in a statement.