Somalia: airborne commando operation in southern foreign Islamist








































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Foreign helicopters attacked a vehicle in Al Shabab Islamist militias in Somalia



By Agencia EFE - 1 minute.



MOGADISHU, Sept. 14 (EFE) .- foreign helicopters attacked militant Islamic radicals today Al Shabab in southern Somalia and caused at least four people, Efe reported eyewitnesses, who did not specify the nationality of the aircraft.



A source from Al Shabab, who requested anonymity, told Efe that one of those killed in the attack was the Comorian Salah Al Nabhan, one of three Islamic radicals that the U.S. sought as alleged perpetrators of the 1998 bombings of the embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.



The other three dead were foreigners also allies of Al Shabab, although the source could not say either its identity or nationalities.



The witnesses, residents of the town of Eril, some 200 kilometers south of Mogadishu, said at least six helicopters participated in the operation against an ATV Al Shabab, which was destroyed, and that the crew landed to pick up the bodies of the victims.



"There were six helicopters and four were fired from different angles against a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Al Shabab, which was destroyed," Efe said Ahmed Omar, a resident of the town of Eril.



"The four helicopters landed to collect the bodies. They left the car, but they took the bodies of members of Al Shabab, who were at least two officials of the group and a driver," said Omar, although the militant group said there were four people that occupied the jeep.



So far, the sources consulted by Efe could not confirm the nationality of the attackers helicopters, but a head of Hezb al-Islam, an ally of al-Shabab, said may be "American or French."



U.S. blamed on Islamic radicals in Somalia, many of them now grouped in Al Shabab and Al Qaeda allies suspected of attacks against its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 200 people.



Al Shabab is now the largest radical Islamic group in Somalia and control vast areas of central and southern Iraq, while trying to forcibly overthrow the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, supported by the international community.



Several hundred foreigners, who are seen as linked to al Qaeda, supporting Al Shabab in their struggle against the government in Mogadishu, which has the backing of troops from Burundi and Uganda to the African Union Mission in Somalia ( AMISOM).

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If Delta wants to wear Oakleys, that's their business.  

'Foreign troops' strike Shabab car



At least two al-Shabab fighters have been killed by foreign troops in a helicopter raid in southern Somalia, witnesses have said.



The soldiers fired from the air at a car in Barawe district on Monday.



Some witnesses described the helicopters as being French, although the French authorities have denied involvement. Other witnesses said they believed the helicopter was American.



Bashir Abdi, a resident in the area, told Reuters news agency that soldiers aboard two helicopters opened fire.



"The troops appeared to have French flags on the shoulders of their uniforms," Abdi said.



He said two people were killed and others captured by the soldiers.



Abdulkadir Muse, another resident, said al-Shabab fighters had exchanged fire with the commandos before all four people in the car were killed and their bodies taken by the foreigners.



'No French operation'



The French military denied its troops had been involved in the raid.



"There was no French operation," said admiral Christophe Prazuck, spokesman for the armed forces' general staff.



He said the French forces present in the region were operating within the framework of the European Union anti-piracy force Atalante and that "they did not intervene over Somali territory".



Dahir Ahmed, another resident, said the helicopters took off from a nearby warship

flying a French flag.



Somalia's weak government has very limited resources and does not have helicopters or other modern equipment.



Barawe district, about 250km south of the capital, Mogadishu, is controlled by al-Shabab fighters.



The group, which is fighting against the Somali government, is believed to be holding a French agent who was kidnapped in July.

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Allegedly he was involved in a plot to kill Hillary Clinton last month:

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Allegedly he was involved in a plot to kill Hillary Clinton last month:

A prominent terrorist sought in connection with the 1998 US Embassy bombings in East Africa was reported to be among the dead yesterday after helicopter gunships attacked a village in southern Somalia, killing at least two Islamist militants.



Residents and Somali Government sources said that Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a militant with links to al-Qaeda, died in the raid.



Witnesses said that up to four helicopters swooped on a convoy of vehicles before opening fire. The attack took place close to the coastal town of Barawe, about 150 miles south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and deep inside territory controlled by al-Shabaab, an Islamist insurgent group.



After destroying one vehicle, white-skinned commandos — described as French or American — were seen getting out of the helicopters and seizing at least two survivors.



Abdinasir Mohamed Adan, a local elder, said: “There was a military operation carried out by four foreign choppers in Erile village. A car was destroyed. We are also hearing that some of the vehicle’s passengers were taken on the choppers.”



Mohamed Ali Aden, a bus driver who passed the burnt-out car, said: “There was only a burning vehicle and two dead bodies lying beside it.”



Nabhan and other foreign fighters, many of whom have joined Somalia’s Islamist insurgents in recent months, were reported to have been in the car.



In Mogadishu, a Government source said: “Nabhan and four other foreign commanders of militant groups were killed.”



Intelligence and other sources in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, told The Times that Nabhan may have been killed, but warned that other militants had been presumed dead in the past, only to resurface later.



“What I’m hearing is that an al-Shabaab convoy of one Land Cruiser, with important foreigners, supported by technicals [improvised battle wagons] was attacked,” said an intelligence source who had spoken with al-Shabaab leaders on the ground. He said that the Land Cruiser was destroyed and that Nabhan was thought to be among the passengers. Western diplomats were unwilling to comment before his body had been identified but, if true, his killing will be welcomed in Washington.



Nabhan is seen as one of the most high profile al-Qaeda linked terrorists operating in Somalia. In March 2008, the US Navy fired Tomahawk missiles at a village in southern Somalia where he was believed to be. This followed similar strikes in 2007.



The Kenyan-born 30-year-old is wanted by the FBI. Three Israelis and ten Kenyans died when three suicide bombers blew themselves up at Mombasa’s Paradise Hotel in 2002, after terrorists missed hitting a Tel Aviv-bound plane with surface-to-air missiles nearby. Nabhan is thought to have masterminded both attacks.



Nabhan is also wanted by Kenya for his role in the August 1998 bombings of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed more than 200.

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Good. This is what a war on terrorism should look like. No bullshit wars, but highly-trained, specialized teams IDing and taking out threats without bombing the shit out of the whole place. You don't use a jackhammer to take out a tumor, you use a scalpel.

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haha this

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Sweet, I wasn't off the mark with my black MH-47s/MH-60s then.

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They strafed him? Fuck yeah! So old school; I love it!



EDIT: So here's the next question: was it a 30mm chain gun, .50-cals, or a 7.62mm minigun? Oh the possibilities!



 

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Good. This is what a war on terrorism should look like. No bullshit wars, but highly-trained, specialized teams IDing and taking out threats without bombing the shit out of the whole place. You don't use a jackhammer to take out a tumor, you use a scalpel.

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Though sometimes, you use chemo and radiation

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12 years later, EVERYONE wears Oakleys... Standard Issue....
 

U.S. military officials say American special forces
staged an attack in southern Somalia Monday and killed a Kenyan-born
terrorist suspect.
Witnesses in the area said soldiers in at
least two helicopters fired on a vehicle near the southern town of
Barawe, killing at least two passengers and wounding two others.
U.S. officials say the attack killed Saleh Ali Saleh
Nabhan, whom authorities have linked to al-Qaida.  Nabhan was wanted by
U.S. intelligence for questioning about attacks against a hotel and a
plane in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2002.
Authorities say special forces troops have taken his body into U.S. custody.
Earlier
reports said those involved in Monday's raid appeared to be French, but
the French military has denied staging a raid in Somali territory.
The Barawe area is controlled by the insurgent group al-Shabab, which is fighting to topple the Somali government.  
The
United States considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization, and has
accused it of having links to al-Qaida and giving refuge to terrorism
suspects.

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It's pretty cool that Obama authorized this one.

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From a co-worker, the wife of one of those involved.

They were watching his movements for some time, had intel that he was on the move with several other ranked targets; a perfect scenario.

Obama signed off on this  as soon as it was presented to him. He knew they couldn't put this guy in Gitmo any longer and did not want him here where he could face trial and all of the attendant publicity. He is apparently reluctant to have "an incident" on his watch and is willing to sign the termination orders readily. I don't like him but he has a thumbs up from me if this is the way he is going to deal with shitbags.

The good guys were waiting off Djibouti and went in in helos. They made clean kills, spent less than 30 minutes on the ground and recovered a lot of valuable evidence including cell phones.

That evidence is on its way back here and includes a finger...no bodies coming back...

As has been reported, this thing has been a major win for the FBI as he was one of their most wanted targets. They were heavily involved all the way through. The information given to the news agencies is purposely vague so as to let it blend in with every other report about operations against insurgents but it is considered amongst the most significant achievement for a long time.

The target was also heavily involved in assisting in the "education" of young US born Somalis in the Mosques here and then taking them to Somalia to train them in terrorist tactics then sending them back home. They are still here.

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Thanks for the insight, but should this be posted on an open forum?  Just asking.