MOGADISHU, Somalia – Foreign troops in helicopters strafed a car Monday in a Somali town controlled by Islamist insurgents, killing two men and capturing two others who were wounded, witnesses said. U.S. military officials said American forces were involved in the raid.
The commando-style action took place in a village near Barawe amid growing fears that al-Qaida is gaining a foothold in this lawless nation.
Two U.S. military officials said forces from the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command were involved. The officials gave no details about the raid or its target, and they spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was secret.
Several news organizations reported that a top al-Qaida-linked suspect wanted in the 2002 bombing of an Israeli hotel in Kenya was among those killed. The New York Times, The Washington Post and BBC cited anonymous U.S. and Western intelligence officials in their reports, which could not be independently confirmed on Monday night.
Many experts fear Somalia is becoming a haven for al-Qaida, a place for terrorists to train and gather strength — much like Afghanistan in the 1990s. The U.N.-backed government, with support from African Union peacekeepers, holds only a few blocks of Mogadishu, the war-ravaged capital.
Last year, U.S. missiles killed reputed al-Qaida commander Aden Hashi Ayro — the first major success after a string of U.S. military attacks in 2008.
Like much of Somalia, Barawe and its surrounding villages are controlled by the militant group al-Shabab, which the U.S. accuses of having ties to al-Qaida. Al-Shabab, which has foreign fighters in its ranks, seeks to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islam in Somalia.
Witness Abdi Ahmed said six helicopters buzzed the village before two of the aircraft opened fire. After the helicopters fired, soldiers in military fatigues got out and left with the two wounded men.
"There was only a burning vehicle and two dead bodies lying beside it," said Mohamed Ali Aden, a bus driver who drove past the burnt-out car minutes after the attack, some 155 miles 250 kilometers south of Mogadishu.
Somalia's weak government has very few resources and does not have helicopters or other modern equipment.
Witness Dahir Ahmed said the helicopters took off from a warship flying a French flag, but that could not be confirmed and French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck denied the attack was a French operation.
"They are not French helicopters," he said. France previously has launched commando raids to rescue French nationals.
The U.S. government — haunted by the deadly 1993 U.S. military assault in Mogadishu chronicled in the 1999 book "Black Hawk Down," made into a 2001 film — is trying to neutralize the growing terrorist threat without sending in troops.
Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other. A moderate Islamist was elected president in January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence has continued unabated.
Mogadishu sees near-daily battles between government and insurgent forces. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed.
Somalia's lawlessness also has allowed piracy to flourish off its coast, making the Gulf of Aden one of the most dangerous waterways in the world.
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AP National Security Writer Anne Gearan reported from Washington, D.C.
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