Story Highlights• Somali government, Ethiopian troops battling al Qaeda, Islamist fighters• Somali officials say a U.S. strike killed a suspect in 1998 embassy bombings • The Pentagon won't confirm the death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed Adjust font size:
    KISMAYO, Somalia (CNN) -- A U.S.-led airstrike in Somalia has killed the suspected orchestrator of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa, Somali officials said Wednesday. A Somali official said the United States confirmed that al Qaeda's Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was killed and no civilians were harmed. However, U.S. officials would not confirm to CNN that Mohammed was killed or that Americans were involved in the airstrikes. Backed by U.S. air support, Ethiopian and Somali government forces battled Islamist fighters and al Qaeda operatives Wednesday in the southern town of Dhobley, near the Kenyan border, according to Col. Abdirizaq Afgadud, a senior Somali military commander, and Abdirashid Hidig, a lawmaker. Mohammed, one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists, was accused of planning the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 225 people. A $5 million reward had been offered for his capture. Media reports suggested additional U.S. airstrikes had been carried out, but a Pentagon duty officer said he was not aware of any operations. However, a Pentagon official said the U.S. sent an AC-130 gunship on a second mission targeting al Qaeda members in southern Somalia on Tuesday but that the airstrike was aborted when the gunship lost track of the targets. Villagers reported aerial bombardments in the region Tuesday, but it was not clear whether Ethiopian or U.S. aircraft were responsible. On Sunday night a U.S. aerial gunship carried out an airstrike on suspected al Qaeda targets in the same area, Pentagon and White House spokesmen said. (Watch how intelligence on al Qaeda operatives prompted the launch Sunday's strike was the first overt American action in Somalia since the U.S. military pulled out of the capital of Mogadishu in 1994. The departure came months after militia fighters loyal to a Somali warlord shot down two Black Hawk helicopters, killing 18 members of the U.S. Special Forces. Ethiopia's air force has conducted airstrikes in support of Somalia's interim government forces against Islamist fighters. A senior Pentagon official said Sunday's U.S. airstrike targeted five al Qaeda operatives who fled to southern Somalia last month after Ethiopian-backed Somali troops forced Islamist militants out of Mogadishu. (Watch how al Qaeda operations in Somalia have alarmed U.S. officials Additionally, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has moved within striking distance of Somalia, but its jets have not been put to use, the Pentagon official said. Senior U.S. military officials said the Eisenhower and four other U.S. ships will stay in the area for some time to watch for al Qaeda operatives trying to get out of Somalia. U.S. officials have accused the Islamic Courts Union -- which wrested control of Mogadishu from a U.S.-backed coalition of warlords in June -- of harboring al Qaeda terrorists, including the suspects in the 1998 bombings. The Islamists have denied the allegations. The Defense Department offered no details on whether Sunday's airstrike was successful, or whether the U.S. military has carried out more. American officials said they expect more U.S. military action. There are 1,800 U.S. troops in the Horn of Africa region as part of an anti-terrorism task force. A senior Somali government official told The Associated Press a small U.S. team has been giving military advice to Ethiopian and Somali government forces. In Washington, a U.S. official said it would be virtually unheard of for the United States to be involved in an operation of this size without "eyes on the ground," the AP reported. Two senior Pentagon officials said they hadn't heard of plans to put any sizable contingent of Americans on the ground in Somalia, according to the AP. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, the AP said. White House spokesman Tony Snow confirmed a U.S. military operation occurred overnight Sunday in Somalia but referred specific questions to the Pentagon. Snow added that the U.S. Congress was not consulted. The operation, carried out by an Air Force AC-130, reportedly was launched based on intelligence that al Qaeda operatives were in the area. Somalian interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed had few details but said he supported its goals. "I don't know that airstrike was in two places or not, but if it's confirmed, I agree with the Americans to target those who were behind the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa," Ahmed said. CNN's Jamie McIntyre and Barbara Starr and journalist Mohamed Amiin contributed to this report. Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of the FBI's most wanted, is shown in a photo released by the bureau in October 2001.
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