( CNN ) -- U.S. military forces conducted an operation Monday against the Al-Shabaab network in Somalia , Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said . `` We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate , '' he said . No other information was immediately available . The Pentagon did not say who was targeted , where in Somalia the operation took place nor why the operation was happening now . But the governor of Somalia 's Lower Shabelle region said a suspected drone strike hit a small rebel-held village between the towns of Dhaab Tubaako and Haaway . Gov . Abdikadir Mohamed Nur Sidii added that attack appeared to target an Al-Shabaab camp where top leaders of the group have been holding a meeting to discuss an ongoing joint offensive by Somali and AU troops against their strongholds in the country 's south . He said those targeted appeared to include the leader of the Al-Shabaab militants , Ahmed Godane , but it was not clear whether he was injured or not . Godane has been a driving force behind Al-Shabaab declaring its affiliation to al Qaeda and has pressed for the group to launch attacks beyond Somalia . The United States designated Al-Shabaab , an al Qaeda-linked militant group , as a foreign terrorist organization in March 2008 . It has targeted Al-Shabaab leaders in Somalia at least twice in the past year . Also Monday , the African Union Mission in Somalia ( AMISOM ) announced that military forces had liberated several important towns from the terrorists ' grip , in the Middle Shabelle and Hiiran regions . `` The Somali National Army supported by AMISOM forces have faced little resistance from their advancement as al-Shabaab simply melted away when they heard the aligned forces are approaching , '' the mission said in a written statement . The developments come just one day after Al-Shabaab fighters dressed in government military uniforms approached the gate of a high security prison in Mogadishu , set off a car bomb and fired their way into the building . During the assault on the National Intelligence and Security Agency prison , three security guards and two civilians were killed and 15 others were injured , Security Ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf told CNN . The NISA prison is underground and is close to the Somali presidential palace in Mogadishu . Hundreds of inmates , mostly Al-Shabaab members , are being held there . Al-Shabaab hopes to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state and has launched attacks in other countries as well . The group claimed responsibility for the siege of the Westgate mall in Nairobi last September 21 that killed at least 67 people . CNN 's Susanna Capelouto and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report .
NEW : A Somali governor reports a suspected drone strike apparently targeting Al-Shabaab . The The United States has targeted Al-Shabaab leaders in Somalia at least twice in the past year . Al-Shabaab hopes to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Somali state . U.S. considers Godane a foreign terrorist organization .