Battle of Ras Kamboni
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Ras Kamboni was a battle in the 2006-2007 Somali War fought by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and affiliated militias against Ethiopia
n and the Somali Transitional Federal Government
(TFG) forces for control of Ras Kamboni
(1°38′20"S 41°35′17"E), a town near the Kenya
n border which once served as a training camp for the militant Islamist group Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya
.
The battle began on January 5, 2007, when TFG and Ethiopian forces launched their assault. On January 7, 2007, the United States entered the conflict by launching airstrikes using an AC-130 gunship against suspected Al Qaeda members operating within the ranks of the ICU. International concern and controversy arose over civilian casualties in additional airstrikes around Ras Kamboni and in Afmadow
province, and whether these were the result of U.S. actions or Ethiopian aircraft operating in the area. The town finally fell to the TFG and Ethiopian forces on January 12, 2007.
, particularly at Ras Kamboni, heightened after the September 11, 2001 attacks
on the United States. On December 16, 2001, Paul Wolfowitz
said the U.S. was meeting with various Somali and Ethiopian contacts to "observe, survey possible escape routes, possible sanctuaries" for Al Qaeda operatives. On March 2, 2002 a briefing was held in the Pentagon
discussing the possible use of Ras Kamboni by terrorist groups, including al-Ittihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) and Al Qaeda. In December 2002, the U.S. established the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) to monitor developments in the region and to train local militaries in counterterrorism. When Ethiopian troops entered the Somalian conflict in December 2006, a small number of U.S. special forces accompanied them to give military advice and to track suspected al-Qaida fighters.
On December 28, 2006, withdrawal of the ICU to Ras Kamboni was reported as a possibility after the Fall of Mogadishu
to Somali TFG and Ethiopian forces.
After their loss at the Battle of Jilib
and the Fall of Kismayo
on January 1, 2007, ICU fighters split into different groups, with some heading northwest towards Dhobley (0°24′35"N 41°0′21"E) and Afmadow
, others moving to the remote, hilly areas of Buur Gaabo, and the remainder withdrawing southwest towards the peninsula town of Ras Kamboni
.
On January 2, 2007, Ethiopian MiG
jets began to patrol over Ras Kamboni but no attacks were reported. U.S. Marines operating from Lamu
, Kenya
, were said to be assisting Kenyan forces patrolling the border with Somalia to intercept Islamists.
Unknown gunmen thought to be Somali Islamists fired shots at a Kenyan security helicopter patrolling near the border with Somalia. The helicopter was flying over the southeastern Kenyan border town of Hulugho. The report did not say if the aircraft was damaged but said gunmen fired small arms from the region of Ras Kamboni, the base for the fleeing Islamists.
The United States Fifth Fleet's Carrier Strike Group 8, along with the British-led multinational maritime task force, Combined Task Force 150
(CTF-150), based out of Bahrain
are patrolling off the Somali coast to prevent terrorists from launching an "attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material", said Commander Kevin Aandahl. The U.S. ships deployed to the area include the USS Ramage
guided missile destroyer, the USS Bunker Hill
and USS Anzio
guided missile cruisers, the USS Ashland
amphibious landing ship and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
aircraft carrier.
.
On January 8, 2007, Col. Hiraale announced TFG and Ethiopian forces were close to entering Ras Kamboni after two days of fierce battles.
Premature reports came of the fall of Ras Kamboni. One was from TFG member Abdirashid Hidig
. A second came from a TFG military divisional commander, Abdirisak Afgadud (alternately spelled Abdulrasaq Afgebub): "Our forces accompanied by our Ethiopian friends have totally cracked down on the remnants of the Islamists in the border area." Defense Minister Hiraale corrected and clarified the reports, saying fighting was ongoing. 50 wounded Ethiopian troops were reported evacuated by helicopter.
To the north of Ras Kamboni, elsewhere in Badhadhe province, an Ethiopian force intercepted Islamist forces in the area of the Kenyan border town of Amuma, Garissa
district. Seven vehicles were destroyed. A platoon of Kenyan border police were in the area to enforce the border closure. In Afmadow province, Ethiopia launched airstrikes against targets near Afmadow and Dhobley.
Also on January 8, it was reported that an AC-130 gunship belonging to the United States military had attacked a suspected Al-Qaeda operative, along with other Islamist fighters, on Badmadow Island (possibly the island located at 1°36′42"S 41°36′42"E) near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia the day before (January 7). The aircraft flew out of its base in Djibouti
. The U.S. reported 8 - 10 deaths, mostly Somalis, but the identity of the dead or wounded was not yet established. Reports said DNA testing was being done to establish identities but U.S. sources denied that the top al-Qaida targets were among those killed. "The U.S. were trying to kill the al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out the bomb attacks on their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania", Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told The Associated Press. "They have our full support for the attacks."
The targeted leaders were tracked by the use of unmanned aerial vehicle
s (UAVs) as they headed south from Mogadishu starting on December 28. It was also reported the aircraft carrier
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had been moved into striking distance.
and Dhobley (Doble) near the Kenyan border. Later more reports stated that more than 50, mostly Islamist leaders, have died in U.S. air strikes. A strike by two unidentified attack helicopters was also reported hitting near Afmadow (0°30′56"N 42°4′24"E). Somali Defense Ministry personnel stated this was a third U.S. attack, but eyewitness accounts could not establish the nationality of the helicopters. Unconfirmed reports claimed the attacks killed 31 civilians. It was later asserted by a U.S. military official the helicopters may have been Ethiopian Mi-24 Hind
s. This would not have been the first case of off-target airstrikes for the Ethiopian attack helicopters. On January 3, they had attacked Harehare village, across the Kenyan border, mistaking it for Islamist positions at the town of Dhobley.
: "As we pursue the war on terror we will seek out, attempt to identify, locate, capture and if necessary kill terrorists and to thwart their activities." A second planned attack was reportedly called off after losing track of the target.
Also on this day, a pair of reports arose which were covered widely in the media, but later contradicted by U.S. sources.
The first was a report by Somali presidential chief of staff, Abdirizak Hassan, who stated the U.S. airstrikes had killed Al Qaeda member Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
, and leaders of the Islamic Courts Union including Abduallahi Moalim Ali (former chief of security for Mogadishu), Abdirahman Janaqow
, and a third unidentified person. The bodies had reportedly been recovered by Ethiopian military personnel. This report was refuted the next day by a confidential U.S. source, who said the hunt for the three Al Qaeda members continues, though it was not mentioned whether the other ICU leaders mentioned were alive or dead.
The second report mentioned at least four more AC-130 airstrikes targeted Ras Kamboni. Other sites were also said to have been targeted by U.S. aircraft around southern Somalia. Somali politician Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig
toured the area by helicopter and spoke of 50 killed in the attacks. He said additional targets hit include Hayo, Garer, Bankajirow and Badmadowe. Clan elder Haji Farah Qorshel claimed 64 people were killed and 100 wounded around Afmadow in three days of attacks. However, confidential sources denied the additional attacks were made by the U.S. Ethiopian aircraft are also known to be operating in the combat area.
was actually still alive and that none of the Al-Qaeda members were killed in the air attack but some members of the ICU were killed. Later in the day, anonymous U.S. sources stated that U.S. forces from the CIA's elite Special Activities Division
were on the ground in Somalia targeting and then identifying the persons who had been killed in the gunship attack.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n and the Somali Transitional Federal Government
Transitional Federal Government
The Transitional Federal Government is the current internationally recognized government of the Republic of Somalia. It was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the Transitional...
(TFG) forces for control of Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni is a town in the Badhaadhe district of Lower Juba region, Somalia, which lies on a peninsula near the border with Kenya. American officials have said that it has served as a training camp for extremists with connections to Al-Qaeda; al-Sharq al-Awsat reported in May 1999 that al-Qaeda...
(1°38′20"S 41°35′17"E), a town near the Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n border which once served as a training camp for the militant Islamist group Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya
Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya
Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya or AIAI is a defunct Islamist militant group in Somalia that was added to the U.S. list of terrorist organizations on September 24, 2001...
.
The battle began on January 5, 2007, when TFG and Ethiopian forces launched their assault. On January 7, 2007, the United States entered the conflict by launching airstrikes using an AC-130 gunship against suspected Al Qaeda members operating within the ranks of the ICU. International concern and controversy arose over civilian casualties in additional airstrikes around Ras Kamboni and in Afmadow
Afmadow
Afmadow is a city in southern Somalia, located in the middle of the Juba region and bordered by Kenya, Badhadhe, Kismayo, Jamame, Jilib, Hagar, Bardhere and Elwaq in Somalia, 620 km south of the capital Mogadishu. It is home to a wide variety of wild animals, including the Big Five game. The...
province, and whether these were the result of U.S. actions or Ethiopian aircraft operating in the area. The town finally fell to the TFG and Ethiopian forces on January 12, 2007.
Background
U.S. security concerns in the Horn of AfricaHorn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
, particularly at Ras Kamboni, heightened after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on the United States. On December 16, 2001, Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
said the U.S. was meeting with various Somali and Ethiopian contacts to "observe, survey possible escape routes, possible sanctuaries" for Al Qaeda operatives. On March 2, 2002 a briefing was held in the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
discussing the possible use of Ras Kamboni by terrorist groups, including al-Ittihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) and Al Qaeda. In December 2002, the U.S. established the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) to monitor developments in the region and to train local militaries in counterterrorism. When Ethiopian troops entered the Somalian conflict in December 2006, a small number of U.S. special forces accompanied them to give military advice and to track suspected al-Qaida fighters.
On December 28, 2006, withdrawal of the ICU to Ras Kamboni was reported as a possibility after the Fall of Mogadishu
Fall of Mogadishu
The Fall of Mogadishu occurred on December 28, 2006, when the militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops entered the Somali capital unopposed...
to Somali TFG and Ethiopian forces.
After their loss at the Battle of Jilib
Battle of Jilib
The Battle of Jilib was a battle in the 2006 Somali War fought by the Islamic Courts Union and affiliated militias against Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government forces for control of the town of Jilib...
and the Fall of Kismayo
Fall of Kismayo
The Fall of Kismayo occurred on January 1, 2007, when the troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian forces entered the Somali city of Kismayo unopposed...
on January 1, 2007, ICU fighters split into different groups, with some heading northwest towards Dhobley (0°24′35"N 41°0′21"E) and Afmadow
Afmadow
Afmadow is a city in southern Somalia, located in the middle of the Juba region and bordered by Kenya, Badhadhe, Kismayo, Jamame, Jilib, Hagar, Bardhere and Elwaq in Somalia, 620 km south of the capital Mogadishu. It is home to a wide variety of wild animals, including the Big Five game. The...
, others moving to the remote, hilly areas of Buur Gaabo, and the remainder withdrawing southwest towards the peninsula town of Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni
Ras Kamboni is a town in the Badhaadhe district of Lower Juba region, Somalia, which lies on a peninsula near the border with Kenya. American officials have said that it has served as a training camp for extremists with connections to Al-Qaeda; al-Sharq al-Awsat reported in May 1999 that al-Qaeda...
.
On January 2, 2007, Ethiopian MiG
Mig
-Industry:*MiG, now Mikoyan, a Russian aircraft corporation, formerly the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau*Metal inert gas welding or MIG welding, a type of welding using an electric arc and a shielding gas-Business and finance:...
jets began to patrol over Ras Kamboni but no attacks were reported. U.S. Marines operating from Lamu
Lamu
-Threats to Lamu:In a 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund identified Lamu as one of 12 worldwide sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and damage, citing insufficient management and development pressure as primary causes.- See also :* Juma and the Magic...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, were said to be assisting Kenyan forces patrolling the border with Somalia to intercept Islamists.
Unknown gunmen thought to be Somali Islamists fired shots at a Kenyan security helicopter patrolling near the border with Somalia. The helicopter was flying over the southeastern Kenyan border town of Hulugho. The report did not say if the aircraft was damaged but said gunmen fired small arms from the region of Ras Kamboni, the base for the fleeing Islamists.
The United States Fifth Fleet's Carrier Strike Group 8, along with the British-led multinational maritime task force, Combined Task Force 150
Combined Task Force 150
Combined Task Force 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 25 nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, inspect, board, and stop suspect shipping to pursue the "War on Terrorism" and in the Horn of Africa region ...
(CTF-150), based out of Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
are patrolling off the Somali coast to prevent terrorists from launching an "attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material", said Commander Kevin Aandahl. The U.S. ships deployed to the area include the USS Ramage
USS Ramage (DDG-61)
USS Ramage is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. The ship is named for Vice Admiral Lawson P...
guided missile destroyer, the USS Bunker Hill
USS Bunker Hill (CG-52)
USS Bunker Hill is a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser laid down by Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 11 January 1984, launched on 11 March 1985 and commissioned on 20 September 1986...
and USS Anzio
USS Anzio (CG-68)
USS Anzio is a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy, named for the site of a beachhead invasion of Italy by Allied troops from 22 January to 23 May 1944. It was laid down by the Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 21 August 1989, launched on 2...
guided missile cruisers, the USS Ashland
USS Ashland (LSD-48)
USS Ashland is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the secondNavy ship to be named for Ashland, the home of Henry Clay, in Lexington, Kentucky.Ashland was laid down on 4 April 1988,...
amphibious landing ship and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is an aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of the ten Nimitz-class supercarriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the thirty-fourth President of the United States, Dwight D....
aircraft carrier.
January 5
On January 5, 2007, TFG Defense Minister Colonel Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced: "Today we will launch a massive assault on the Islamic courts militias. We will use infantry troops and fighter jets... They have dug huge trenches around Ras Kamboni but have only two options: to drown in the sea or to fight and die."January 6
Fighting continued January 6 in the forests south of Kismayo near the Kenyan border, where it was reported the Islamists were holding out armed with over 100 technicalsTechnical (fighting vehicle)
A technical is a type of improvised fighting vehicle, typically a civilian or military non-combat vehicle, modified to provide an offensive capability similar to a military gun truck...
.
January 8
Premature reports came of the fall of Ras Kamboni. One was from TFG member Abdirashid Hidig
Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig
Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig is a Somali political and a Member of Parliament in the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia. There are 275 members of the Somali parliament...
. A second came from a TFG military divisional commander, Abdirisak Afgadud (alternately spelled Abdulrasaq Afgebub): "Our forces accompanied by our Ethiopian friends have totally cracked down on the remnants of the Islamists in the border area." Defense Minister Hiraale corrected and clarified the reports, saying fighting was ongoing. 50 wounded Ethiopian troops were reported evacuated by helicopter.
To the north of Ras Kamboni, elsewhere in Badhadhe province, an Ethiopian force intercepted Islamist forces in the area of the Kenyan border town of Amuma, Garissa
Garissa
Garissa is a city in the North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is the capital of both the province and Garissa District.-Overview:Garissa is located at and has a population of 65,881 inhabitants . The Tana River flows through the city....
district. Seven vehicles were destroyed. A platoon of Kenyan border police were in the area to enforce the border closure. In Afmadow province, Ethiopia launched airstrikes against targets near Afmadow and Dhobley.
Also on January 8, it was reported that an AC-130 gunship belonging to the United States military had attacked a suspected Al-Qaeda operative, along with other Islamist fighters, on Badmadow Island (possibly the island located at 1°36′42"S 41°36′42"E) near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia the day before (January 7). The aircraft flew out of its base in Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
. The U.S. reported 8 - 10 deaths, mostly Somalis, but the identity of the dead or wounded was not yet established. Reports said DNA testing was being done to establish identities but U.S. sources denied that the top al-Qaida targets were among those killed. "The U.S. were trying to kill the al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out the bomb attacks on their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania", Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told The Associated Press. "They have our full support for the attacks."
The targeted leaders were tracked by the use of unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
s (UAVs) as they headed south from Mogadishu starting on December 28. It was also reported the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had been moved into striking distance.
January 9
On January 9, a second AC-130 strike was reported at Hayo (also Xayo or Hayi, approx. Lat 0º28’ N, Long 41º49’ E) on the road between the provincial capital of AfmadowAfmadow
Afmadow is a city in southern Somalia, located in the middle of the Juba region and bordered by Kenya, Badhadhe, Kismayo, Jamame, Jilib, Hagar, Bardhere and Elwaq in Somalia, 620 km south of the capital Mogadishu. It is home to a wide variety of wild animals, including the Big Five game. The...
and Dhobley (Doble) near the Kenyan border. Later more reports stated that more than 50, mostly Islamist leaders, have died in U.S. air strikes. A strike by two unidentified attack helicopters was also reported hitting near Afmadow (0°30′56"N 42°4′24"E). Somali Defense Ministry personnel stated this was a third U.S. attack, but eyewitness accounts could not establish the nationality of the helicopters. Unconfirmed reports claimed the attacks killed 31 civilians. It was later asserted by a U.S. military official the helicopters may have been Ethiopian Mi-24 Hind
Mil Mi-24
The Mil Mi-24 is a large helicopter gunship and attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for 8 passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and operated since 1972 by the Soviet Air Force, its successors, and by over thirty other nations.In NATO circles the export...
s. This would not have been the first case of off-target airstrikes for the Ethiopian attack helicopters. On January 3, they had attacked Harehare village, across the Kenyan border, mistaking it for Islamist positions at the town of Dhobley.
January 10
On January 10, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman identified Somalia as part of the war on terrorWar on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
: "As we pursue the war on terror we will seek out, attempt to identify, locate, capture and if necessary kill terrorists and to thwart their activities." A second planned attack was reportedly called off after losing track of the target.
Also on this day, a pair of reports arose which were covered widely in the media, but later contradicted by U.S. sources.
The first was a report by Somali presidential chief of staff, Abdirizak Hassan, who stated the U.S. airstrikes had killed Al Qaeda member Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was a member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa as of November 2009. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship...
, and leaders of the Islamic Courts Union including Abduallahi Moalim Ali (former chief of security for Mogadishu), Abdirahman Janaqow
Abdirahman Janaqow
Abdirahman Mahmud Farah Janaqow is a Somali leader, and he was deputy chairman, and a member of the Murusade clan. of the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia . He and other leaders signed a capitulation of Mogadishu on 27 December 2006 after military losses. However they continued military resistance...
, and a third unidentified person. The bodies had reportedly been recovered by Ethiopian military personnel. This report was refuted the next day by a confidential U.S. source, who said the hunt for the three Al Qaeda members continues, though it was not mentioned whether the other ICU leaders mentioned were alive or dead.
The second report mentioned at least four more AC-130 airstrikes targeted Ras Kamboni. Other sites were also said to have been targeted by U.S. aircraft around southern Somalia. Somali politician Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig
Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig
Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig is a Somali political and a Member of Parliament in the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia. There are 275 members of the Somali parliament...
toured the area by helicopter and spoke of 50 killed in the attacks. He said additional targets hit include Hayo, Garer, Bankajirow and Badmadowe. Clan elder Haji Farah Qorshel claimed 64 people were killed and 100 wounded around Afmadow in three days of attacks. However, confidential sources denied the additional attacks were made by the U.S. Ethiopian aircraft are also known to be operating in the combat area.
January 11
On January 11, the American ambassador to Kenya said that the U.S. claimed Al-Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah MohammedFazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was a member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa as of November 2009. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship...
was actually still alive and that none of the Al-Qaeda members were killed in the air attack but some members of the ICU were killed. Later in the day, anonymous U.S. sources stated that U.S. forces from the CIA's elite Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
were on the ground in Somalia targeting and then identifying the persons who had been killed in the gunship attack.
January 12
On January 12, TFG Defense Minister Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced Ras Kamboni had fallen to the Somali government and Ethiopian forces after five days of heavy fighting. Remnants of the Islamist forces were being pursued into the nearby forests and fighting would continue. A small team of U.S. forces investigated the site of the U.S. gunship attack to search for information about the identity and fate of the targeted individuals.January 17
Theresa Whelan, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, in a press conference said she believed the raid killed eight soldiers of Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, head of an Islamist militia. Ayro was believed to have been wounded in the attack and perhaps killed.See also
- List of military strikes against presumed terrorist targets
- Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa
- Special Activities DivisionSpecial Activities DivisionThe Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...