U.S. Navy strikes on Qaeda suspect in Somalia

[AnOhioan]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military launched a strike against a suspected al Qaeda target in northern Somalia on Friday, CNN reported.

A U.S. Navy destroyer targeted the suspect from off the coast of the African nation, the cable news network said, citing unidentified sources.

There was no information about the results of the attack, it said.

The target was a suspect in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 240 people, CNN said.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070602/wl_nm/usa_somalia_qaeda_dc

---

Killing one guy with a destroyer? Sort of like using a shotgun on a housefly.

[southerncrone]

1. Too odd.

Looks like just an excuse to attack another African nation.

[OwnedByFerrets]

2. Its at a point....

that they can bomb ANYONE and call them a suspected al Qaeda target. It can be used in THIS country also. Dont ever forget it.

[bamacrat]

3. You bring up a point that worries me..

because it is true.

[Screwfly]

4. Another failed military adventure

That the US Navy has to bomb targets in Somalia says how well Ethiopia’s US backed invasion of that country went.

[LynnTheDem]

5. And the "collateral damage" count? When did "suspect" = bomb the crap out of?

Hint, America; it ain't our "freedoms" we're so hated for.

[maddezmom]

6. deja vu

Breaking on CNNI: The 3 suspected al Qaeda high value targets still alive in Somalia
Edited on Thu Jan-11-07 07:34 AM by maddezmom
A senior U.S. official denies that al Qaeda terrorist Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a suspect in the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa, was killed in a U.S. airstrike on Somalia.
http://www.cnn.com /

will look for another link

Senior U.S. official in Kenya: Mohammed not dead
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a suspect in the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa, was not killed in raids in Somalia this week as Somali officials have claimed, a senior U.S. official in Kenya told CNN's Barbara Starr. (Posted 8:24 a.m.)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/11/thursday/ind...

Official: Top Somalia al-Qaida not dead


NAIROBI, Kenya - None of the top three suspected terrorists in Somalia were killed in a U.S. airstrike this week, but Somalis with close ties to al-Qaida were killed, a senior U.S. official in the region said Thursday.

A day earlier, a Somali official had said a U.S. intelligence report had referred to the death of one of the three senior al-Qaida members believed responsible for bombing U.S. embassies in East Africa. But U.S. and Ethiopian troops in southern Somalia were still pursuing the three, the U.S. official said Thursday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2683933

[Eugene]

7. (AP) Report: U.S. hits militants' Somali base

Source: Associated Press

Report: U.S. hits militants' Somali base

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer
37 minutes ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Officials in the northern Somali region
of Puntland said Saturday that U.S. warships bombarded a
remote, mountainous village where Islamic militants had set
up a base.

The attack from a U.S. destroyer took place late Friday, said
Muse Gelle, the regional governor. The extremists had arrived
Wednesday by speedboat at the port town of Bargal.

Gelle said the area is a dense thicket, making it difficult for
security forces from the semi-autonomous republic of Puntland
to intervene on its own.

A local radio station quoted Puntland's leader, Ade Muse, as
saying that his forces had battled with the extremists for hours
before the U.S. ships arrived and used their cannons. Muse said
five of his troops were wounded, but that he had no information
about casualties among the extremists.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070602/ap_on_re_af/somalia_us

[laststeamtrain]

8. US warship bomb targets in northeastern Somalia

Source: AFP

MOGADISHU (AFP) - A US warship overnight bombed targets in northeastern Somalia after Islamist fighters clashed with troops from the country's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, witnesses and officials said Saturday.

"We cannot yet tell you the casuality figures, but what I can confirm is that the American warship bombed several targets in the surroundings of Bargal at night," Mohamoud Salah, a resident in the area told AFP by satellite phone.

A Puntland military official confirmed the bombing that came three days after authorities there reported the entry of Islamist fighters and foreigners of Arab origin into Bargal, about 1250 kilometres (781 miles) northeast of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

"Our forces have fought with Islamic fighters, including foreigners linked to Al Qaeda," said the official, who requested anonymity.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070602/wl_afp/somaliaunrestpuntlandus_070602065659;_ylt=Av1tBTQDXe20aXJxFv3KaJMV6w8F

---

Link to AP version: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070602/ap_on_re_af/somalia_us

[krispos42]

9. We didn't bomb them, we shelled them

With a rapid-fire high-velocity 5" naval gun mounted on a destroyer.

When's the last time a SHIP dropped a bomb on anything?

[ohio2007]

13. 5 " gun ? Thats not exactly sneaking up on them with a drone overhead

snip
It followed clashes between local troops and foreign fighters after their arrival on Wednesday, which forced the militants into nearby hills.

Residents spoke of a plane circling overhead assisting the warship with targeting.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6714473.stm

imo, somebody asked for an assist by the US

[krispos42]

15. That little 5-incher has a range of over 12 miles

I think it can fire laser-guided shells, too, so conceivebly the plane or drone could have been finding and illuminating targets while the destroyer simply lobbed shells in the general direction of the target.

At the rate of 20 a minute, mind you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5%22/54_caliber_Mark_45_gun

I also assume they can do a volley timed to impact simultaniously if the target isn't too far away. They do that by firing the first shell on the longest-possible flight time trajectory, then progressively lowering the barrel for each shot until the last shot in the volley is on the shortest-possible flight time trajectory. If you do it right, all of the shells in the volley arrive at the same time.

If you look carefully, you can see the shell in mid-flight...

[ohio2007]

16. The article said "missiles" not shells were being used

but a UAV could have been a spotter for artillary since the locals spotted the spotter.

[krispos42]

21. The two I read said "bombed", so I was thinking naval artillery

Later on, I saw missiles as well. In hindsight, you have to be pretty close to use the deck gun. However, the ammo is much cheaper than a Tomahawk or three. :-)

[Up2Late]

10. US ship 'fires on Somali village' (BBC News)

(Are we protecting oil there or something?)

Saturday, 2 June 2007, 06:48 GMT 07:48 UK

US ship 'fires on Somali village'

The US Navy has carried out an attack on a Somali village where Islamist militants are reported to have set up a base, a regional governor has said.

Somali officials said a remote village in the Puntland region was bombarded, days after foreign militants arrived. US reports suggest the target was an al-Qaeda operative suspected of involvement in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The strike would be at least the third by the US in Somali territory in 2007.

In early January, US forces tried to target three suspected members of al-Qaeda but were thought to have missed their targets. Later that month another strike hit an identified target in the south of the country, the Pentagon said.

(more at link)

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6714473.stm>

[LynnTheDem]

11. Showing another nation the true America.

As we kill their kids.

[youngdem]

12. Here's why, I suspect.

http://www.somaliawatch.org/archivejuly/000922601.htm

[Up2Late]

14. I knew it!

And check out the date on the second article (January 18, 1993), it was written when GHWBush was still President!

[ohio2007]

17. So much for the peak oil theorists

seems the world is saturated with it by the # of countries that have untapped reserves.

[Eugene]

18. Pentagon chief says Somalia strike possibly ongoing

Source: Reuters

Pentagon chief says Somalia strike possibly ongoing
03 Jun 2007 03:38:03 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Adds background)

SINGAPORE, June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates declined to comment on Sunday about Friday's reported
U.S. naval strike on targets in Somalia, saying it was possibly
an ongoing operation.

"I think that's possibly an ongoing operation and I'm not going
to talk about it," Gates told a news briefing on the sidelines
of an Asian security conference.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SIN12497.htm

[ohio2007]

19. A prelude to Ethiopian troop movements?

Finding a needle in a haystack can't be done sitting on the misty,seaward horizon line.

[gratuitous]

20. At least we're not shooting off million dollar missiles

Just to hit a camel in the butt, right George? No, we're indiscriminately lobbing all sorts of ordnance into a general area trying to kill that elusive number 3 man for Al Qaeda. But of course, anyone with the temerity to use Bush's own words against him will be immediately accused of insufficient support of the president during war time.

[sofa king]

22. Interesting. The last time I noticed them doing this was November.

At that time I noted that the United States had managed to park three or four Marine Expeditionary Units, at least two fleet carriers and several assault carriers, and a good chunk of the logistics ships in the Arabian Sea, all apparently ready to go into Iran following the election.

Then something happened. The public overwhelmed the vig built into the voting machines, and our Navy was forced to chase down fleeing technicals in Somalia as a consolation prize.

Just something to think about, I guess.

[Parche]

23. Terra

Wasnt he the number 2 mastermind of the terror attacks that were masterminded by the number
1 guy in Africa? :sarcasm: :sarcasm: