WASHINGTON: A force that struck foreign fighters in Somalia early Saturday included members of a U.S. Navy SEAL team, according to reports. The team seized a senior leader of the militant group al-Shabab,The New York Times says.
“The strike was carried out in the town of Barawe in the hours before morning prayers against what one official said were ‘high-profile’ targets,” the AP reports.
The attack comes two weeks after an attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall that left dozens dead. Al-Shabab claimed credit for that violence, which it called retribution for Kenya’s involvement in Somalia’s internal struggles.
The AP filed its report on the raid earlier today, before The Times emerged with details about Navy SEALS’ involvement.
A person who lives in Barawe, a port town on Somalia’s southeastern coast, told the news agency in a telephone interview that residents woke to heavy gunfire Saturday.
“The SEAL team stealthily approached the beachfront house by sea, seizing the unidentified target in a predawn firefight that was the most significant raid by American troops on Somali soil since commandos killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Qaeda mastermind, near the same town four years ago,” The Times reports.
After the assault began, the fighting lasted more than an hour, The Times says, with helicopters eventually taking part. The newspaper says it isn’t yet clear whether the Shabab leader is dead or alive.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, a local Shabab commander says the assault on the house did not succeed.
“The enemy of Allah tried to surprise the mujahedeen commanders with a night attack using a military helicopter, but they were taught a lesson and they have failed,” Mohamed Abu Suleiman said.
A militant fighter tells the AP that after news of the attack spread, an attempt was made to capture a “foreign” soldier at the house; that effort failed, he said. He added that international troops had fought their way into the two-story building.
“The attack was carried out by the American forces and the Somali government was pre-informed about the attack,” a Somali official tells The Times.
Two Somali intelligence officials confirmed the attack to the AP; one of them said it “was carried out by an international military,” the agency says.
Pentagon spokesman George Little declined to comment to the AP about reports of the attack.
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