| US ship fires at Al Qaeda target in Somalia coast |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Thursday, 07 June 2007 | |
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The main target of the strike was Fazul Abdullah Mohammad, a suspect of the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 240 people. The United States earlier (January 2007) launched air strikes in Somalia targeting three top Al Qaeda suspects but killed their allies instead. Those suspects also were wanted for the embassy bombings. The US military reportedly had actionable intelligence to strike. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who is also known as Harun Fazul had also been targeted in December 2006 in air strikes by US AC-130 gunship. He is the leader of the East Africa cell of al-Qaida. Apart then the Kenya and Tanzania bombing, Fazul Abdullah is also believed to be responsible for the 2002 attack on an Israeli owned hotel in Mobassa, Kenya, and an attempted shoot down of an Israel charter airliner during that time. He is on the FBI's most wanted list and one of the most "effective al-Qaida operatives left in the world" with $5 million reward tag. The recent attack targeted a mountainous area around the village of Bargal in the northern province of Bari, in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Right after the US strike, gunfight between local soldiers and Al Qaeda broke in, resulting in militants to flee to nearby hills. The US destroyer named ‘USS Chafee’ fired 20 five-inch rounds at the targets. Reports on casualties are yet to come. The US authority did not comment directly but mentioned that operations against terror suspects including Al-Qaeda militants often needed to be carried out "quietly". The US is worried about terrorism in Somalia just because Somalia still is a chaotic, poor, battle-weary Muslim country with no central government. An associate of Mohammed confessed to the authorities that he was trained with al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. In early 2007, during the War in Somalia, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was thought to be in the border area near Ras Kamboni, along with remnants of the Islamic Courts Union. Earlier, one of Mohammed's wives and his children were captured trying to escape to Kenya from Somalia, they were arrested in Kiunga and brought to Nairobi for questioning. The US has made considerable progress in its war against international terrorism, but it still faces contingencies that could complicate its goal of eliminating the scourge of global terrorism. It is expected that the US will hit again to destroy Fazul Abdullah Mohammad if he had survived the recent attack. The US however needs to realize that struggle against al-Qaeda leaders is more an intelligence battle than a strictly military one. Share & Bookmark             |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 08 June 2007 ) |
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