The U.S. Navy fired at least one missile into a southern Somali town before dawn Monday, targeting a terrorism suspect as an Islamic group with links to al-Qaeda appears to be gathering sway again in the lawless African nation.
Residents and police in Dobley said at least eight people, including four children, were seriously injured when a home was destroyed. The attack was confirmed by U.S. officials, who said only that the target was a “known al-Qaeda terrorist.”
The U.S. military has staged several attacks on suspected extremists in Somalia over the past year amid fears the Horn of Africa country could become a haven for terrorists.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman in Washington declined to provide any details, including the target’s identity, the fate of the targeted individual or reports of any other casualties.
Another defense official told The Associated Press that the strike used one or more Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from a U.S. submarine off Somalia’s coast. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss details.
One other U.S. military official said the target was believed to have been staying in a building known to be used regularly by terrorist suspects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the record.
A radical Islamic movement that ruled much of southern Somalia in 2006 took over Dobley last week, led by senior official Hassan Turki. Turki, who is rarely seen in public, is on U.S. and U.N. lists of suspected terrorists for alleged ties to al-Qaeda. His fate after the strike was not known.
The Islamic movement, the Council of Islamic Courts, seized control of much of southern Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu, in 2006. But in early 2007, troops loyal to the U.N.-backed interim Somali government and the allied Ethiopian army defeated the Islamic group.
The Islamic council now appears to be re-emerging. On Monday, fighters linked to the group overran Bur Haqaba, about 35 miles from the provincial capital Baidoa in the south.
