Reply #6: AP: U.S. Launches Airstrike in Somalia (Tuesday)

[Eugene]

EDIT: Nationality of Tuesday's attackers not determined.

U.S. Launches Airstrike in Somalia


Tuesday January 9, 2007 2:16 PM

AP Photo NY121

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN

Associated Press Writer

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A U.S. airstrike hit targets in southern Somalia where Islamic
militants were believed to be sheltering suspects in the 1998 bombings of two U.S.
embassies, Somali officials and witnesses said Tuesday. Many people were reported killed.

Monday's attack was the first overt military action by the U.S. in Somalia since it led a U.N.
force in the 1990s that intervened in Somalia in an effort to fight famine. The mission led
to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle
that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead.

Helicopter gunships launched new attacks Tuesday near the scene of a U.S. airstrike in the
village of Hayi, although it was not clear if they were American or Ethiopian aircraft, and
it was not known if there were any casualties.

Two helicopters "fired several rockets toward the road that leads to the Kenyan border," said
Ali Seed Yusuf, a resident of the town of Afmadow in southern Somalia.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6332991,00.html