Two commanders of the Islamist militia died in the attack. The air strike targeted senior Shabab and al Qaeda leader Aden Hashi Ayro. In a propaganda audiotape released by Shabab in November 2007, Ayro expressed his wishes of "someday beheading women and children in Addis Ababa." The second commander killed is Fazul Abdullah Mohammad. Fazul is al Qaeda's operations chief responsible for planning the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the 2002 car bombing attack in Kenya and missile attack on an Israeli airliner.
The insurgents form part of the Somali branch of al-Qaeda. Since being removed ousted by allied Somali and Ethiopian troops, the insurgents have continued guerrilla attacks. The successful strike is the fifth known US-led air strike against al Qaeda operatives in Somalia since the Ethiopian operation to drive the Islamic Courts from power was launched in late December 2006.