Somalia air strike failed to kill al-Qaida targets, says US

A US air force AC-130 gunship like the one reported to have attacked sites in Somalia
A US air force AC-130 gunship like the one reported to have attacked sites in Somalia. Photograph: US air force/EPA
The US air strike on Somalia failed to kill any of the three top al-Qaida members accused of terror attacks in east Africa.

A senior US official said today that Sunday night’s attack had killed between eight and 10 “al-Qaida affiliates” near the southern tip of Somalia.

But he said that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Abu Taha al-Sudan and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, all linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2002 Mombasa hotel attack, were still on the run. “Fazul is not dead,” said the official, contradicting earlier reports. “The three high-value targets are still of interest to us.”

Washington had accused the Council of Islamic Courts movement in Somalia of shielding the three men, who are believed to be leaders of the al-Qaida cell in east Africa.

Their alleged influence on the Islamic Courts hierarchy is the main reason for US antipathy towards the Islamists, who rose to power in Mogadishu last June.

It also influenced Washington’s decision to back Ethiopia’s military incursion into Somalia last month, which flushed hardcore Islamist fighters out of the cities and into the far south of the country. From its military base in Djibouti, the US tracked their retreat and launched a night-time attack using an AC130 gunship.

“We have reason to believe that there were significant al-Qaida affiliated people with that group [that was attacked],” said the official, who talked to reporters in Nairobi on condition of anonymity. “No civilians were killed or injured.”

But he refused name those who had been killed, or to confirm how they were identified, leaving it unclear how the US could be sure the victims were linked to terrorist activities.

The Pentagon denies claims that there are American troops on the ground.

Four warships remain off the coast of Somalia, and the official said US operations were not over. Asked if the three main al-Qaida targets were still believed to be in Somalia, he said it was “possible that they are still there”.

The Pentagon and state department have been highly secretive about the attack, leading to speculation in Somalia about the nature of US operations in recent days.

The official said there had been a single strike, and that reports of further aerial attacks on Tuesday and yesterday, causing significant civilian casualties, were wrong.

“We have reason to believe that elements of the Council of Islamic Courts are putting out false reports,” he said.

Most of the incorrect information so far has come from top members of Somalia’s transitional government.