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bobdina
09-14-2009, 10:32 PM
U.S. Kills Top Qaeda Leader in Southern Somalia

Agence France-Presse

NAIROBI, Kenya — American commandos killed one of the most wanted Islamic militants in Africa in a daylight raid in southern Somalia on Monday, according to American and Somali officials, an indication of the Obama administration’s willingness to use combat troops strategically against Al Qaeda’s growing influence in the region.

Western intelligence agents have described the militant, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, as the ringleader of a Qaeda cell in Kenya responsible for the bombing of an Israeli hotel on the Kenyan coast in 2002. Mr. Nabhan may have also played a role in the attacks on two American embassies in East Africa in 1998.

American military forces have been hunting him for years, and on Monday, around 1 p.m., villagers near the town of Baraawe said four military helicopters suddenly materialized over the horizon and shot at two trucks rumbling through the desert.

The trucks were carrying leaders of the Shabab, an Islamist extremist group fighting to overthrow Somalia’s weak but internationally recognized government. The Shabab work hand-in-hand with foreign terrorists, according to Western and Somali agents, and in the past few months, as the battle for control of Somalia has intensified, the group seems to be drawing increasingly close to Al Qaeda.

American officials on Monday provided few details, but confirmed that Special Operations forces, operating from a nearby American warship, participated in the helicopter raid.

Under the administration of President George W. Bush, the American military used long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles and AC-130 gunships to carry out strikes against terrorism suspects in Somalia. One American adviser said the decision to use commandos and not long-range missiles in this case may reflect a shift by the Obama administration to go to greater lengths to avoid civilian deaths. In the past, many Somali villagers have been killed by American missiles.

But urgency was a major, if not overriding, factor as well. A senior American military official said the Special Operations forces, who had kept Mr. Nabhan under lengthy surveillance waiting for the right moment to strike, acted quickly after tracking Mr. Nabhan to a location away from civilians on Monday. “We have been watching him for a long, long time,” said the military official.

Despite the danger of conducting the mission during the day, the strategy ensured that the troops could more accurately identify their target, attack it and confirm the deaths afterward. “This approach was, ‘Let’s do it very quickly, very swiftly and confirm he’s gone,’ ” the adviser said.

Mr. Nabhan played an increasingly important role as a senior instructor for new militant recruits, including some Americans, as well as a liaison to senior Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, the senior American adviser said.

“This is very significant because it takes away a person who’s been a main conduit between the East Africa extremists and big Al Qaeda,” said the adviser, who like several United States officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the mission.

The helicopters, with commandos firing .50-caliber guns and other automatic weapons, quickly disabled the trucks, according to villagers in the area, and several of the Shabab fighters tried to fire back. Shabab leaders said that six foreign fighters, including Mr. Nabhan, were quickly killed, along with three Somali Shabab. The helicopters landed, and the commandos inspected the wreckage and carried away the bodies of Mr. Nabhan and the other fighters for identification, a senior American military official said.

“We are very upset, very upset,” said a Shabab official from the town of Merka, near where the raid happened. “This is a big loss for us.”

Mr. Nabhan, who was thought to be around 30 years old and of Yemeni descent, was born in Mombasa, on Kenya’s coast. American intelligence sources have said that he masterminded the suicide bombing of the Paradise hotel in Mombasa, which killed 11 Kenyans and 3 Israelis and wounded dozens of others.

The Paradise was a popular Israeli hangout, complete with a kosher restaurant and synagogue. That same day, Nov. 28, 2002, a group of assailants fired several missiles at an Israeli passenger jet at the Mombasa airport, narrowly missing it. Intelligence agents said Mr. Nabhan helped fire the missiles.

Mr. Nabhan was one of the handful of Qaeda terrorists hiding out in Somalia for years, taking advantage of the country’s chaos to elude agents pursuing them.

Mr. Nabhan was believed to be a close associate of Fazul Abdullah Mohamed, Al Qaeda’s East Africa operations chief, who helped organize the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed more than 200 people. American military forces have tried to kill Mr. Nabhan and Mr. Mohamed with airstrikes several times in recent years.

The Baraawe area, like much of southern Somalia, is controlled by the Shabab. There is increasing evidence that foreign jihadists, like Mr. Nabhan, are leading Somali Shabab and training them in suicide bombs.

American officials said Mr. Nabhan’s death is likely to send other suspects scurrying for cover. When they resurface, there may be killings of those suspected of being informants, sowing further turmoil in their ranks, American officials said.

bobdina
09-14-2009, 11:02 PM
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Foreign troops in helicopters strafed a car Monday in a Somali town controlled by Islamist insurgents, killing two men and capturing two others who were wounded, witnesses said. U.S. military officials said American forces were involved in the raid.

The commando-style action took place in a village near Barawe amid growing fears that al-Qaida is gaining a foothold in this lawless nation.

Two U.S. military officials said forces from the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command were involved. The officials gave no details about the raid or its target, and they spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was secret.

Many experts fear Somalia is becoming a haven for al-Qaida, a place for terrorists to train and gather strength - much like Afghanistan in the 1990s. The U.N.-backed government, with support from African Union peacekeepers, holds only a few blocks of Mogadishu, the war-ravaged capital.

Last year, U.S. missiles killed reputed al-Qaida commander Aden Hashi Ayro - the first major success after a string of U.S. military attacks in 2008.

Like much of Somalia, Barawe and its surrounding villages are controlled by the militant group al-Shabab, which the U.S. accuses of having ties to al-Qaida. Al-Shabab, which has foreign fighters in its ranks, seeks to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islam in Somalia.

Witness Abdi Ahmed said six helicopters buzzed the village before two of the aircraft opened fire. After the helicopters fired, soldiers in military fatigues got out and left with the two wounded men.

"There was only a burning vehicle and two dead bodies lying beside it," said Mohamed Ali Aden, a bus driver who drove past the burnt-out car minutes after the attack, some 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Mogadishu.

Somalia's weak government has very few resources and does not have helicopters or other modern equipment.

Witness Dahir Ahmed said the helicopters took off from a warship flying a French flag, but that could not be confirmed and French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck denied the attack was a French operation.

"They are not French helicopters," he said. France previously has launched commando raids to rescue French nationals.

The U.S. government - haunted by the deadly 1993 U.S. military assault in Mogadishu chronicled in the 1999 book "Black Hawk Down," made into a 2001 film - is trying to neutralize the growing terrorist threat without sending in troops.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other. A moderate Islamist was elected president in January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence has continued unabated.

Mogadishu sees near-daily battles between government and insurgent forces. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed.

Somalia's lawlessness also has allowed piracy to flourish off its coast, making the Gulf of Aden one of the most dangerous waterways in the world.

nastyleg
09-14-2009, 11:04 PM
They admitted the loss....that is very unusual and the fact that he was the main driving force behind these jawa's.

nastyleg
09-15-2009, 11:46 AM
Insurgents vow to avenge US raid in Somalia

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer Mohamed Olad Hassan, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 13 mins ago
MOGADISHU, Somalia – U.S. special forces aboard helicopters penetrated into Somalia and, guns blazing, attacked a convoy said to contain a top al-Qaida fugitive. A local official, citing intelligence reports, confirmed on Tuesday the target was killed and Islamist insurgents vowed to seek revenge.

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan citizen, was 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.

Monday's commando-style action took place amid growing concerns that al-Qaida is gaining a foothold in this lawless nation.

Many experts fear Somalia is becoming a haven for al-Qaida, a place for terrorists to train and gather strength much like Afghanistan in the 1990s. Last year, U.S. missiles killed reputed al-Qaida commander Aden Hashi Ayro — marking the first major success after a string of U.S. military attacks in 2008.

Two U.S. military officials said that forces from the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command were involved in Monday's raid in southern Somalia. The officials gave no details about the target, and they spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was secret.

But the deputy mayor for security affairs in Somalia's capital, citing intelligence reports, confirmed that 30-year-old Nabhan was killed. Abdi Fitah Shawey did not elaborate.

Somali witnesses to Monday's raid say six helicopters buzzed an insurgent-held village near Barawe, some 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Mogadishu, before two of the aircraft opened fire on a vehicle, killing two and wounding two.

Two senior members of al-Shabab, who asked that their names not be used because they are not authorized to speak publicly, said their fighters will retaliate for the raid.

"They will taste the bitterness of our response," one of the commanders told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Ernst Jan Hogendoorn, Horn of Africa Project Director of the International Crisis Group, said the "surgical" precision of Monday's raid shows that U.S. has specific intelligence in Somalia.

"I think it will certainly make al-Shabab leaders much more cautious when they are operating because obviously the United States has very precise intelligence about their movements," he said.

Like much of Somalia, Barawe and its surrounding villages are controlled by the militant group al-Shabab, which the U.S. accuses of having ties to al-Qaida. Al-Shabab, which has foreign fighters in its ranks, seeks to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islam in Somalia.

The U.N.-backed government, with support from African Union peacekeepers, holds only a few blocks of Mogadishu, the war-ravaged capital.

___

Associated Press writers Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu and Makda Tesfaledet in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia

ghost
09-15-2009, 02:47 PM
Excellent news. Although, I read an article that was posted on the militaryphotos.net forums that said it was a French special operations unit.

bobdina
09-15-2009, 03:58 PM
Excellent news. Although, I read an article that was posted on the militaryphotos.net forums that said it was a French special operations unit.

Well they were not the shooters maybe there putting that out there because of our past in Somalia, your going to have to trust me on that. maybe they were involved in some way or another but the shooters were U.S. the NAVY's SOF had been watching him for a long time getting his movements down and waiting for no children to be where they had planned it

ghost
09-15-2009, 10:02 PM
Well they were not the shooters maybe there putting that out there because of our past in Somalia, your going to have to trust me on that. maybe they were involved in some way or another but the shooters were U.S. the NAVY's SOF had been watching him for a long time getting his movements down and waiting for no children to be where they had planned it


Fair enough. You've been to the sandbox before. I'll take your word for it.

The overall knowledge(not yours. I just mean in general) of the situation seems sketchy, though. Just like with last year's(I think it was) cross-border raid with US SOF operators, in Syria. But I guess it's better that way. It means that the SOF guys are good at their jobs.;)