Tue, Jan 09, 2007
AC-130 Gunship Fires On Suspected Islamist Fundamentalists
The United States launched a new front in the war on terrorism
Sunday, as a single AC-130 gunship unleashed its power in support
of Ethiopian soldiers fighting against Al-Qaeda-backed guerillas in
neighboring Somalia. It was the first US military action in the
war-torn country since 1994.
"You had some figures on the move in a relatively unpopulated
part of the country," an anonymous US military source told the
Washington Post. "It was a confluence of information and
circumstances."
The operation took place in the southern portion of Somalia, and
was launched at night from the US Central Command base in Djibouti.
Information for the attack was gleaned from joint military-CIA
intelligence, as well as information from Ethiopian and Kenyan
military forces in the area.
Information is sketchy on the success of the mission, although
some sources indicate a prime target of the attack may have been
eliminated. Abu Talha al-Sudani is a Sudanese who has lived in
Somalia since 1993, and is believed to be an explosives expert and
a senior operative in al-Qaeda.
Officials believe Sudani was among several al-Qaeda operatives
driven from the Somali capital of Mogadishu during attacks launched
by Ethiopian troops late last month. Those operatives are suspected
of participating in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania
and Kenya, as well as an attempted shootdown of a Israeli
airliner.
The Ethiopian military entered Somalia December 24 with the
mission of neutralizing the Council of Islamic Courts, a Muslim
extremist group that took power in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
The Ethiopian forces took the capital in 10 days and terrorists and
their sympathizers allegedly moved south toward the border with
Kenya to escape.
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