US Denies Southern Somali Attacks

UN officials fear the air strikes could lead to an escalation of hostilities

US forces say they have carried out no fresh air strikes in southern Somalia against Islamist fighters since Monday. Residents in Afmadow town, north of Kismayo, have described two attacks, whilst another was reported by Somalis in the coastal area of Ras Kamboni.

Reports suggest Ethiopian MiG fighters and helicopter gunships seen in the city of Kismayo may be involved.

There has been considerable criticism of the US after its first overt military action in Somalia since 1994.

The Pentagon confirmed that US aircraft targeted al-Qaeda suspects on Monday but has not said whether they met with success.

Washington has dismissed the international criticism, saying it was necessary to defend the US and the international community from further al-Qaeda attacks.

Somali officials say leading al-Qaeda suspect, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, accused of masterminding the bomb attacks on US embassies in East Africa nine years ago, may be among those killed in the earlier raids.

Ethiopia's prime minister Meles Zenawi says several terror suspects have been either killed or captured in the strikes.

He told reporters Ethiopian forces had gone to the scene of Monday's US raid and collected the dead and wounded.

The south is a no man's land... it is forest. It's not easy to move in with military vehicles

He denied the US hit civilians but said those killed "may have involved very senior Islamist court leaders".

The United Nations Security Council is set to meet to consider moves to send African peacekeepers into Somalia to help protect the transitional government.

The initiative was agreed before the Union of Islamic Courts' militia were ousted by Ethiopian-backed government forces.

They had taken control of much of central and southern Somalia over the past six months, before being routed from the capital, Mogadishu, and driven south.

The US has long said al-Qaeda suspects linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa took refuge in Somalia. It also accuses the Islamists of having links to al-Qaeda - charges they deny.

The UK Foreign Office is currently investigating reports that Britons are among those killed in the fighting after Somali officials said they had found a variety of international passports on the bodies of dead Islamist fighters.

* Fazul Abdullah Mohammed's wife and the wife of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, also wanted by the FBI for an attack in East Africa in 2002, have been arrested in Kenya after fleeing the coastal Somali town of Ras Kamboni, Kenyan intelligence sources say

* The interim government has called for all clan militia to assemble at designated points across the country to disarm, retrain and join the national army

* There has been a fresh attack on an Ethiopian vehicle in the capital, Mogadishu, following Tuesday's rocket attacks

* Health officials say fighting is preventing them confirming a possible spread of the deadly Rift Valley Fever from Kenya 'Hiding out'

* Correspondents say the situation on the ground in southern Somalia remains unclear, with communications in the area poor.

The Islamist fighters are hiding in densely wooded areas close to the Kenyan border in the southern tip of Somalia.

Somalia's interim deputy prime minister, Hussein Aideed, said the US action was necessary precisely because of their location.

"This is [the] south of the country, and it is a no man's land... it is forest. It's not easy to move in with military vehicles," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

The BBC's Bashkas Jugsodaay who is between the Kenyan border and Doble town says dozens of people, mainly pastoralists, and their cattle were killed in air strikes on Tuesday evening near watering holes.

Eyewitnesses in two settlements between Doble and Afmadow say the attacks lasted for between 30 to 45 minutes.

Aid workers report that more 1,000 people have been wounded since fighting erupted in December. However, there is no reliable information on casualties in the current fighting in the remote south.

U.S. Special Forces in Somalia

Thursday January 11, 2007 12:16 AM
By PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. special operations forces are in Somalia hunting suspected al-Qaida fighters, but Pentagon officials dismissed the idea they are planning to send any large number of ground troops to the African nation.

U.S. and Somali officials said Wednesday a small American team has been providing military advice to Ethiopian and Somali forces on the ground. The officials provided little detail and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

The U.S. forces entered Somalia with Ethiopian forces late last month when Ethiopians launched their attack against the Islamic movement said to be sheltering al-Qaida figures, one of the officials said.

They spoke days after an American airstrike on a suspected al-Qaida target that U.S. officials have said killed up to 10 people.

The Navy has moved additional forces into waters off the Somali coast, where they have conducted security missions, monitoring maritime traffic and intercepting and interrogating crew on suspicious ships.

With the arrival of the USS Ramage guided missile destroyer, there were five ships Wednesday: the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, the USS Bunker Hill and USS Anzio guided missile cruisers, and the USS Ashland amphibious landing ship, which officials said they could use as a brig for any captured suspects.

Despite the continuing operation in Somalia, two other senior U.S. defense officials said they had heard of no plans to put any sizable contingent of Americans into Somalia. They also spoke on condition of anonymity because the Pentagon typically does not talk about future operations or troops movement.

The small teams of special operations forces serving as liaison officers, advisers and trainers are a different matter, the officials said. They declined to specifically say whether additional teams are planned.

There are about 52,000 special operations forces in the U.S. active duty and reserve military, including SEALs, Green Berets and other commando-style troops who perform sometimes-clandestine missions behind enemy lines.

They also train foreign militaries, help them with intelligence and engage in other activities to build and maintain good relations with foreign populations and their authorities. Such forces have taken a more prominent role since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as the Pentagon has adjusted to fighting a shadowy enemy.

Somalia's deputy prime minister said Wednesday that more American special forces is for U.S. special forces to go in on the ground,'' said Hussein Aided, a former U.S. Marine. ``They have the know-how and the right equipment to capture these people.''

As for a larger deployment of conventional U.S. troops, a U.S. general last week told Washington reporters he did not expect it.

``Situations change but I do not see it now, and there's nothing that I've heard that implies that at all,'' Gen. William Ward, deputy commander of U.S. European Command and a former brigade commander in Somalia, told defense writers.

Ward has been mentioned as the possible commander for a planned new Africa command the Pentagon wants to set up to concentrate more on the region. Africa is now split between a number of commanders.

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