Citing intelligence reports, Abdi Fitah Shawey confirmed that Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan was killed in Monday’s attack in an insurgent-held town near Barawe, some 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Mogadishu. U.S. military officials say American forces were involved in the raid.

“Our security intelligence reports confirm that Nabhan was killed,” Shawey told The Associated Press. He did not elaborate on the intelligence reports.

Nabhan is a Kenyan wanted for questioning in connection with the car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and the near simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002. Ten Kenyans and three Israelis were killed in the blast at the hotel. The missiles missed the airliner.

The Egyptian crew overpowered the pirates, seizing some of their guns before sailing away from Somalia’s coast, said Miraa, who was one of the pirates on board the fishing vessels.

Miraa, who gave only his nom de guerre, said the fight took place near the northern Somalia coastal town of Las Qorey. The town is off the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest waterways where Somali pirates carry out most of their attacks.

Said Jama Hussein, a businessman in the small town of Las Qorey, said fishermen told him the Egyptian ships left Thursday. He said the crew, who number up to 24, apparently took some of the pirates hostage.