SOMALIA: Government says it understands U.S. commando raid that killed al Qaeda suspect

Record ID: 352640

  • Title: SOMALIA: Government says it understands U.S. commando raid that killed al Qaeda suspect
  • Date: 16th September 2009
  • Summary: MOGADISHU STREET NEAR KILOMETRE 4
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Somalia
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADZMDTGH1880YTQK5PC2A2247Q
  • Story Text: Somalia's besieged government said on Tuesday (September 15) the U.S. commando raid that is believed to have killed one of east Africa's most wanted al Qaeda suspects was fully justified.
    U.S. special forces in helicopters struck a car in rebel-held southern Somalia on Monday, apparently killing the Kenyan said to have built the truck bomb that claimed 15 lives at an Israeli-owned beach hotel on the Kenyan coast in 2002.
    Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, 28, was also accused of involvement in a simultaneous, but botched, missile attack on an Israeli airliner packed with tourists as it left nearby Mombasa.
    Several senior Somali government sources said he had been killed along with four other foreign members of al Shabaab, which Washington describes as al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.
    "We understand there has been firing over convoy that was alleged some international terrorists were involved and there are not yet any confirmed reports on this especially the names of those who were captured. I just want to say it is unfortunate for Somalia to to be a safe haven for people who have committed crimes elsewhere," Somali prime minister, Omar AbdiiRashid, told Reuters.
    The attack marked an apparent change in tactics for the U.S. military, which has previously targeted wanted militants in Somalia using missiles, as opposed to helicopter-borne troops.
    "Somalia cannot be a safe haven for terrorist activity and I think we do understand actually the reason behind the attack,"
    added AbdiiRashiid.
    Western security agencies say the failed Horn of Africa state has become a safe haven for militants, including foreigners, who use it to plot attacks in the region and beyond.
    A moderate Somali militia that has been battling al Shabaab praised the U.S. raid and called late on Monday for more strikes to wipe out foreign jihadists hiding out in Somalia.
    Residents of Mogadishu also said they were happy with the raids.
    "We are very happy with yesterday's attack on the terrorists in our country and it was well organized so we are very happy," said Aden Abdi, a resident.
    Ahlu Sunna has fought al Shabaab for months across Somalia's central and southern regions. It is allied with the U.N.-backed government of president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, which controls just parts of the central region and some of Mogadishu.
    "We are very happy with that action against terrorists because they were going to be judges on our internal matters and they came here to create political unrest and civil war, so we very happy because the are not born in our country and we appreciate such an attack on terrorists," said Said Abdi, another resident.
    Nahban was killed near Roobow village in Barawe District, some 250 km (150 miles) south of the capital.
    A U.S. official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. special forces aboard two helicopters that flew from a U.S. Navy ship opened fired on a vehicle that they believed contained Nabhan. They then took the body into custody, the official said, and were confident it was Nabhan.
    The U.S. military has launched several airstrikes inside Somalia in the past against individuals blamed for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1988.
    In May last year, U.S. warplanes killed the then-leader of al Shabaab and al Qaeda's top man in the country, Afghan-trained Aden Hashi Ayro, in an attack on the central town of Dusamareb.
    Violence has killed more than 18,000 Somalis since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes.
    That has triggered one of the world's worst aid emergencies, with the number of people needing help leaping 17.5 percent in a year to 3.76 million, or half the population.
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