Copters attack Somalia militant suspects

AP on Yahoo ^ | 1/9/07 | Salad Duhul - ap

[NormsRevenge]

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Helicopter gunships attacked suspected al-Qaida fighters in the south Tuesday after U.S. forces staged airstrikes in the first offensive in the African country since 18 American soldiers were killed there in 1993, witnesses said.

Witnesses said 31 civilians, including two newlyweds, died in the assault by two helicopters near Afmadow, a town in an area of forested hills close to the Kenyan border 220 miles southwest of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. The report could not be independently verified.

A Somali Defense Ministry official described the helicopters as American, but the local witnesses told The Associated Press they could not make out identification markings on the craft. Washington officials had no comment.

On Monday, at least one U.S. AC-130 gunship attacked Islamic extremists in Hayi, 30 miles from Afmadow, and on a remote island 155 miles away believed to be an al-Qaida training camp at the southern tip of Somalia next to Kenya. Somali officials said they had reports of many deaths. The Pentagon confirmed the strike, but declined to comment on any details.

The U.S. is targeting Islamic extremists, said the Somali defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. Earlier, Somalia's president said the U.S. was hunting suspects in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, and had his support.

The Islamic extremists are believed to be sheltering suspects in the embassy bombings, and American officials also want to make sure the militants will not longer pose a threat to Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government.

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived off Somalia's coast and launched intelligence-gathering missions over Somalia, the U.S. military said. Three other U.S. warships were conducting anti-terror operations.

U.S. warships have been seeking to capture al-Qaida members thought to be fleeing Somalia after Ethiopia's military invaded Dec. 24 in support of the interim Somali government and drove the Islamic militia out of the capital and toward the Kenyan border.

President Abdullahi Yusuf, head of Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government, told journalists in Mogadishu that the U.S. "has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania."

But others in the capital said the attacks would increase anti-American sentiment in the largely Muslim country, where people are already upset by the presence of troops from neighboring Ethiopia, which has a large Christian population. The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, reissued a terror warning Tuesday to Americans living in or visiting the Horn of Africa.

A U.S. government official said at least one AC-130 gunship was used Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity.

It was the first overt military action by the U.S. in Somalia since it led a U.N. force that intervened in the 1990s in an effort to fight famine. The mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle that killed 18 U.S. soldiers.

Witnesses said at least four civilians were killed Monday evening in Hayi, including a small boy. The claims could not be independently verified.

Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said it was not known how many people were killed, "but we understand there were a lot of casualties. Most were Islamic fighters."

Another AC-130 attack occurred Monday afternoon on Badmadow island, in a group of six rocky islands known as Ras Kamboni that is suspected as a terrorist training base. Dense thicket provide excellent cover and the only road to the area is virtually impassable, locals said.

The main target on the island was thought to be Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 225 people.

He is also suspected of planning 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, 12 miles north of Mombasa. The missiles missed the airliner.

Leaders of Somalia's Islamic movement have vowed from their hideouts to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla war, and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden's deputy has called on militants to carry out suicide attacks on the Ethiopian troops.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview published Tuesday in the French newspaper Le Monde that suspected terrorists from Canada, Britain, Pakistan and elsewhere were among those taken prisoner or killed in the military operations in Somalia.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since clan-based warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, sinking the Horn of Africa nation of 7 million people into chaos.

At least 13 attempts at government have failed since then. The current government was established in 2004 with U.N. backing.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday that a U.N. peacekeeping force may be needed to guarantee security and stability in Somalia. He said Ugandan soldiers may be the first deployed to replace Ethiopian troops.

European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said Tuesday the U.S. airstrikes would not contribute to bringing about long-term peace.

___

Associated Press writers Mohamed Sheik Nor in Mogadishu and Chris Tomlinson in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.

[NormsRevenge]

In this photo released by the U.S. Navy on Tuesday Jan. 9, 2007, An F/A-18C Hornet from the Wildcats of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131 lands aboard the flight deck of the the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on Monday Jan. 8, 2007. The U.S. military said Tuesday it had sent the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to join three other U.S. warships conducting anti-terror operations off the Somali coast. The aircraft carrier is part of the Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Adrian J. Escobar, HO)

[Robe]

Civilian = A terrorist who has:
1. Been killed
2. dropped his AK-47 / RPG

Children = A group of young terrorist who has:
1. Been killed
2. dropped his AK-47 / RPG

Wedding Party = A group of mixed female and male terrorist who have:
1. Been killed (by AC-130 / Apache Gunship)
2. dropped his AK-47 / RPG

Senior Islamic Official
1. Been killed (by a Hellfire Missile)
2. dropped his AK-47 / RPG

[NormsRevenge]

Never got to see a live firing of one of these babies but the sounds its blades made still whap in my memories. A nasty little aircraft.

A US Marine Corps attack helicopter is seen in a 2004 handout photo from the US Marine Corps (USMC). US attack helicopters launched fresh air strikes in southern Somalia, targeting the suspected command center of Al-Qaeda militants, a Somali defense ministry official said.(AFP/USMC-HO/File)

[NormsRevenge]

Meanwhile..

Kenyan Army soldiers stand guard near the border with Somalia 07 January to ensure that Somalia Islamist do not cross over. The United States renewed a dire warning for possible terrorist attacks in east Africa, after launching air strikes on suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts in lawless Somalia.(AFP/File)

[NormsRevenge]

A U.S. warplane hunting al Qaeda suspects killed many people in south Somalia as other air strikes also hit the remote region where fugitive Islamist fighters are hiding, officials said on Tuesday. In the first known direct U.S. military intervention in Somalia since a failed peacekeeping mission that ended in 1994, an AC-130 plane rained gunfire on the desolate village of Hayo late on Monday, a senior government official said. (Graphics/Reuters)

[ArrogantBustard]

Sucks to be islamist terrorists.

Kenyans want to kill them ...
Somalis want to kill them ...
Ethiopians want to kill them ...
Americans want to kill them ...

Keep the phriggin' worthless UN, MSM, and Democratic Party out of the story, and we might just be able to get rid of them.

[NormsRevenge]

Cobra gunship

[D-Chivas]

Witnesses said 31 civilians, including two newlyweds, died in the assault by two helicopters near Afmadow, a town in an area of forested hills close to the Kenyan border 220 miles southwest of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. The report could not be independently verified.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

The BBC article states that the last American engagement in Somalia was in 1994.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Also from the BBC:

[BuffaloJack]

European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said Tuesday the U.S. airstrikes would not contribute to bringing about long-term peace.
But we don't have to worry about any of the dead al-Qaeda creeps coming back to fight again.
Wars are won by killing the enemy dead.

[Little Ray]

They aren't "suspects" for Heaven's sake - they're enemy troops!
This is NOT law enforcement - its war!

[river rat]

Roger that!

I am fast approaching the "barbaric" position of "Kill em all" and let Allah sort them out...

I've never understood why there is STILL more concern about "innocent Muslim civilians" being killed in the war against militant Islam -- that wasn't present in the war against Nazis or the Japanese?
Are Muslims entitled to more consideration?
I think NOT.

The Islamist don't show the same concern for their non-Muslim enemy. In fact the cowardly murderous thugs TARGET women and children.

Semper Fi

[capydick]

Has Grandma Pelosi and Granpa Reid made any statements regarding this? I cant imagine they would allow President Bush to exercise his constitutional duty of protecting the USA without their permission.

[GunnyHartman]

"31 civilians, including two newlyweds, died "

"Not true", stated the bride, "I survived the infidel attack, but my husband BurkaBurka Mohammed Jihad was killed!"

[ApplegateRanch]

SARC> American baby killers blowing up Islamic wedding parties in yet another country. When will these out of control muderers be brought to justice? When will I finally get to cease having to clean up after their murderous forays?

[Little Ray]

I honestly think that a significant portion of this country is wallowing in self hatred and wants us to lose. We have a bigger issue with internal enemies than with external ones, and no means with which to deal with them.

[massgopguy]

Among the dead was the little bastard who onced posed on the body of an American Ranger when the Black Hawk Helicopter he was on was shot down over Mogedieshu. If only.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

The john edwards adoring liberal who works next to me busted out with a "oh great, now were bombing somolia" grunt when he started reading the news this morning.

Made my whole day.