U.S. airstrike targets al-Qaida in Somalia

AC-130 gunship said to fire on suspects in ’98 East Africa embassy bombing

Talado,Jan,9,2007

WASHINGTON - A senior Pentagon official confirmed for NBC News Monday that a U.S. gunship conducted a strike against two suspected al-Qaida operatives in southern Somalia. It was not immediately known whether the mission was successful.

The U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship, operated by the Special Operations Command, flew from its base in Djibouti to the southern tip of Somalia, where the al-Qaida suspects were believed to have fled from the capital, Mogadishu, CBS News reported. The AC-130 is capable of firing thousands of rounds per second.

U.S. officials say that the United States received assurances from both the Ethiopian and Somalian governments in the last two weeks that, should they obtain intelligence concerning the whereabouts of the al-Qaida operatives, they would pass it on to the United States.

The operatives are believed to be responsible for the 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, which left 241 people dead, as well as 2002 attacks on Israeli tourists in Kenya and the attempted downing of an Israeli aircraft the same day.

The Ethiopian military swept into Somalia last month and removed the Islamic government that had reputedly harbored al-Qaida operatives.

The White House on Monday night would not confirm the incident. Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a Defense Department spokesman, said he could neither confirm nor deny the reports of an airstrike.

Air Force AC-130 gunships are heavily armed aircraft with elaborate sensors that can go after discreet targets, day or night. They are operated by the Special Operations Command and have been used heavily against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

U.S. Navy vessels have been deployed off the coast of Somalia to make sure al-Qaida or allied jihadists don’t escape the country, the State Department said last Wednesday.

A broken government
Somalia’s effective central government fell in 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew a military dictator and then turned on each other. The government was formed two years ago with the help of the United Nations, but has been weakened by internal rifts.

Soldiers loyal to Somalia’s U.N.-backed government and Ethiopia’s military late last month drove out a radical Islamic group that had been in control of the country for six months.

The U.S. has believed for years that a group of al-Qaida operatives has been hiding in Somalia.