US returns to Somalia in strike against al-Qaeda

By Mike McCarthy Jan 10, 2007, 11:59 GMT

Washington - The US military attack on a suspected al-Qaeda base this week in southern Somalia marked the first overt action by the United States in the country since a humanitarian mission ended in infamy in 1994.

The White House confirmed reports that the US targeted al-Qaeda operatives but did not offer specific about the nature of the mission.

Reports said that the assault targeted at least one senior al- Qaeda operative believed to have participated in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people including 12 Americans.

CBS News reported that an AC-130 gunship flying from Djibouti struck an area where members of al-Qaeda were hiding. The Washington Post reported that the chief of staff for Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi confirmed the reports of the attack and that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, believed responsible for the 1998 embassy attacks, had been killed.

'Among the targets was Fazul,' Gedi said. 'And we understand (from the Americans) Fazul is no more.'

The US operation was coordinated by the Djibouti-based US Combined Joint Africa Task Force, which has been set up to monitor and prevent the creation of an al-Qaeda refuge in the region.

Somalia has been a chief concern among US officials because al- Qaeda agents are believed to operate in the lawless country, which has lacked an effective central authority since 1991. Concerns about terrorism increased last year, when Islamist fundamentalists gained control over most of Somalia and isolated the internationally recognized interim government.

In December, Ethiopia launched an assault in support of the weak interim government and by the end of the month had taken control of the capital Mogadishu, forcing the Islamists to flee and opening the door for Sunday's attack by the United States.

The aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower quickly sailed to the coast of Somalia to support effort, aimed at preventing al-Qaeda operatives and other terrorist from fleeing the country and finding refuge elsewhere.

The attack marked the return of the United States since a US and United Nations humanitarian, nation-building effort failed in the early 1990s. The US mission began when then-president George Bush ordered US forces to transport food and other aid into Somalia, amid a chaotic civil war.

Somali warlords had been hijacking humanitarian shipments, and most of the food was not reaching the starving population. The mission under the ensuing Clinton administration expanded into an effort to establish a government and stabilize the country.

A key warlord, Mohammed Farrah Aidid, refused to implement an agreement to establish a Somali government, and his militia continued carrying out attacks on food shipments and on UN peacekeeping forces.

President Bill Clinton ordered elite units including Army Rangers and the super-secret Delta Force to Somalia to capture or kill Aidid, a mission that culminated in a devastating battle in October 1993 on the streets of Mogadishu.

In the infamous Blackhawk Down incident that spawned a Hollywood film, 18 US troops died in the aftermath of a raid to capture two of Aidid's top lieutenants. Pinned down trying to retrieve and guard two crashed helicopters, the US forces came under a fierce attack by thousands of militants loyal to Aidid's clan.

Fallen US soldiers were dragged through the streets, producing images that undermined the Somalia mission in the United States and forcing Clinton to order a pullout that was completed in early 1994.