Airstrikes in Somalia Mark New Foray

WASHINGTON -- The American airstrike in Somalia, which officials say killed as many as 10 suspected terrorists, marked a new, open military foray by the United States into a part of the world that has been a chief concern in the war on terror.

The Horn of Africa, and particularly Somalia, has worried the U.S. military since America began a global campaign in 2001 to defeat al-Qaida, which had operated from havens inside Afghanistan until U.S. forces invaded in October of that year.

A short time later, the U.S. military established a special group of forces based in nearby Djibouti to work with Ethiopia, Kenya and other governments in the area to combat terrorists.

U.S. intelligence has believed for some time that it is dealing with a small group of al-Qaida operatives in the Horn of Africa, particularly when compared with the Afghan-Pakistani border region.

This week's attack was the first known U.S. military action inside Somalia since U.S. forces withdrew from that nation in the Horn of Africa in 1994, although U.S. forces have been stationed in neighboring Djibouti for several years.

The strike in southern Somalia on Monday killed five to 10 people believed to be associated with the al-Qaida network, two U.S. officials said. They discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because of its sensitive nature.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not address whether military operations were continuing. Other defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity suggested that more strikes were either planned or under consideration.

An intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity said that four or five others were wounded in the strike. U.S. officials were trying to figure out who was killed _ a process that may require a mix of intelligence and getting personnel to the scene.

Somali officials reported larger numbers of casualties, but precise figures were not available. U.S. officials noted that there has been additional fighting, creating more casualties, since the U.S. airstrike on Monday.

Whitman confirmed that an AC-130 special operations aircraft attacked targets in Somalia on Monday, but he provided no information on whether any of the targeted individuals were killed.

In addition to the AC-130 gunship, which is armed with a 105mm howitzer that fires out the side of the aircraft as well as other guns, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was deployed off the coast of Somalia. The carrier could be called on to launch F/A-18 or other strike aircraft within range of Somalia.

The assault on Monday was based on intelligence "that led us to believe we had principal al-Qaida leaders in an area where we could identify them and take action against them," said Whitman. "We're going to remain committed to reducing terrorist capabilities where and when we find them."

The United States has been trying to track the "big three" al-Qaida figures in East Africa for their roles in plots against the interests of the United States and its allies. They are Abu Talha al-Sudani, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.

It was not immediately clear to the U.S. intelligence official if any of those three was hit in the attack.

Al-Qaida has used Africa as a base and target for its operations since its early days. Osama bin Laden, who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, moved to Sudan in 1991 and established training camps and business structures there.

After U.S. troops moved into Somalia in 1992, bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders established a Nairobi, Kenya, cell that provided weapons and support to Somali warlords opposing the U.S. forces there. The Sept. 11 Commission said that al-Qaida trainers were later heard boasting that their role in Somalia led to the shoot down of two Blackhawk helicopters in 1993, which led to the U.S. withdrawal from Somalia in 1994.

In 1998, al-Qaida launched the coordinated attack on U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 225 people, mostly Africans.

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Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.