Helicopters Strafe al-Qaida in Somalia

An AC-130 gunship is shown in this undated photo provided by the U.S. Air Force. Citing Pentagon sources, CBS reported that a gunship like the one shown, led an attack against a site at the southern tip of Somalia where several suspected members of al-Qaida were believed to have been located, Monday Jan. 8, 2007. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force) (AP)

Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said it was not known how many people were killed, "but we understand there were a lot of casualties. Most were Islamic fighters."

Another attack by an AC-130 gunship reportedly occurred Monday afternoon on Badmadow island, in a group of six rocky islands known as Ras Kamboni _ a suspected terrorist training base.

Thickets provide dense cover and the only road to the area is virtually impassable, locals said.

The U.S. military's main target on the island was thought to be Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 225 people.

Leaders of Somalia's Islamic movement have vowed from their hideouts to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla war, and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden's deputy has called on militants to carry out suicide attacks on Ethiopian troops.

In an interview published Tuesday in the French newspaper Le Monde, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that suspected terrorists from Canada, Britain, Pakistan and elsewhere were among those captured or killed during recent military operations.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The warlords turned on each other, creating chaos in the nation of 7 million people.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that a U.N. peacekeeping force may be needed to guarantee security and stability in Somalia.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington; Mohamed Olad Hassan and Mohamed Sheik Nor in Mogadishu and Chris Tomlinson in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.