US team ‘visits’ Somali strike site

First reported case of US military on the ground in Somalia since “Black Hawk Down”.

AC-130 US Spectre gunship
A US gunship attacked a suspected al-Qaeda base in southern Somalia on Monday [EPA]

It was not known if the team was still in Somalia, the Post reported.

 

A US official told AFP on Thursday in Nairobi that the Monday air strike killed “eight to 10” alleged Al-Qaeda affiliates, but none of the three top fighters sought by the United States in the violence-wracked nation.

 

According to the Post, a piece of bloody clothing and a document found at the site suggested that Aden Ayrow, head of the military arm of the Union of Islamic Courts, had been at the scene.

 

The Pentagon has said the operation was prompted by “credible intelligence” that the “principal Al-Qaeda leadership” in east Africa was in the area that was hit by an AC-130 gunship, a fixed-wing aircraft with rapid firing guns.

Source: News Agencies