Top Somali Qaeda member killed in US air strike
MOGADISHU (Agencies)
A top Al-Qaeda operative who figures high on an FBI list of wanted terror suspects was killed in a U.S. military raid in southern Somalia Monday, a U.S. said.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, named the dead man as Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan wanted for questioning for 2002 attacks in Mombasa on a hotel and an Israeli airliner.
American media quoted other officials as saying Nabhan was killed when at least one U.S. helicopter fired on a convoy carrying suspected Qaeda targets in southern Somalia earlier Monday.
An American official a US Navy ship had been nearby to monitor the situation and provide assistance if needed.
Kenya-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, 28, was wanted over a hotel bombing and simultaneous, but botched, missile attack on an Israeli airliner leaving Kenya’s Mombasa airport in 2002.
A senior Somali government source in Mogadishu told Reuters earlier today the fugitive had been riding in a car with other Islamist insurgents when they were attacked near Roobow village in Barawe District, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of the capital.
“Nabhan and four other top foreign commanders of militant groups were killed in the raid,” the source said.
“These young fighters do not have the same skills as their colleagues in Afghanistan or elsewhere when it comes to foreign airstrikes,” the government source added.
Witnesses confirmed the foreign choppers destroyed vehicle and took some of its passengers.
“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,” Abdinasir Mohamed Adan, an elder from the nearby village of Barawe, told AFP by phone.
French link
A local Islamist commander who asked to remain anonymous earlier claimed that the helicopters were French.
“We are getting information that French army gunships attacked a car, destroying it completely and taking some of the passengers. We are waiting for some more details,” al-Shabab official told AFP.
Al-Qaeda-inspired Shabab movement control the area and are believed to be holding a French agent kidnapped in July, but France denied local claims that its forces were involved in the raid.
French forces have launched commando raids in Somalia in the past to rescue French nationals held by rebels and pirates. Paris maintains a large military base in neighboring Djibouti.
Last month, one of two French security advisers kidnapped by Somali insurgents in July managed to escape from his captors and fled to the presidential palace in Mogadishu.
The U.S. military has also launched airstrikes inside Somalia, targeting individuals Washington blames for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1988.
In May last year, U.S. war planes killed the then-leader of Shabab and Qaeda’s top man in the country, Afghan-trained Aden Hashi Ayro, in an attack on the central town of Dusamareb.
Germany’s ‘debt queen’ kicks austerity to the curb
Her rivals call her Germany’s “debt queen,” but Hannelore Kraft’s victory in a state election on the weekend has driven speculation she could challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel as the mother of a nation famed for its frugality. Ms. Kraft’s ready smile and common touch helped her turn around the fortunes of her centre-left Social Democrats [...]
Witnesses describe Breivik’s “battle cry” during killing spree
Anders Behring Breivik screamed a “battle cry” and appeared both angry and joyous as he shot his victims one by one, survivors of the Norwegian far-right killer’s massacre told a court on Wednesday. “I heard screaming but I couldn’t make out the words,” Ingvild Leren Stensrud, 17, who was shot in the leg and shoulder, [...]
Mexican novelist, essayist Carlos Fuentes wrote with a social conscience
Author Carlos Fuentes, who played a dominant role in Latin America’s novel-writing boom by delving into the failed ideals of the Mexican revolution, died Tuesday in a Mexico City hospital. He was 83. Fuentes died at the Angeles del Pedregal hospital where he was taken after his doctor, Arturo Ballesteros, found him in shock in [...]
Social issues take centre-stage after Obama’s gay marriage declaration
Will it be Greece or gay marriage? As the American presidential election campaign enters the serious phase, social issues seem to have taken a front seat in the debate over who best can lead the country into an almost certainly tumultuous future. Less than 24 hours after Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at Barnard [...]
Ottawa has second chance to save millions of lives
Canadians want to take concrete action on behalf of those in developing countries who are needlessly suffering from fully treatable ailments. They want to help millions of people worldwide gain access to live-saving, affordable medicine. Our politicians have this very opportunity in the form of Bill C-398, currently making its way through Parliament. The bill [...]
Ouster of China’s security chief points to battle between reformists, hardliners
First came the purge of Bo Xilai, a rising star in the Communist Party who fell into disgrace just before he was expected to join the inner circle of power in China. Now a sitting member of that omnipotent club – the Standing Committee of the Politburo – has reportedly been stripped of his main [...]
At least 9 killed in Nepal plane crash
A plane carrying 21 people crashed Monday while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in Nepal’s northern Himalayas, killing at least nine, authorities said. Eight survivors in critical condition were flown by helicopter to a hospital. The plane hit a mountain while it was turning around to land at Jomsom Airport, said Laxmi Raj [...]
