Somalia

Insurgents killed in air raid

Article published on the 2008-05-01 Latest update 2008-05-01 17:15 TU

Somalia

The Pentagon has confirmed that the United States army is behind an air raid which killed at least ten people late Wednesday night. Among those killed was Moalim Aden Hashi Ayro, leader of the Al Shabab militant group, a group that was added to the US government's list of terrorist organisations in March. Washington claims that Ayro was the leader of Al Qaeda in Somalia.

The strike took place at 2300 GMT on Wednesday night when a war plane dropped three large bombs on a house in Dhusamareb, in the Galgudud region of central Somalia, about 400 km north of the capital, Mogadishu. 

Pentagon sources took responsibility for the attack on Thursday. Joe Holstead, a spokesman for the Defence Department, said that the attack was conducted against "a known Al-Qaeda target and militia leader in Somalia". 

It is the fourth attack of its kind by the US military in Somalia since the start of 2007. In March, US forces fired a cruise missile into Southern Somalia near the Kenyan border. They claimed to be targeting Al Qaeda operatives hiding in the area.

In addition to Ayro, another member of the Shabab movement, Sheikh Muhyadin Omar, was also killed in Wednesday’s attack. A spokesman for Shabab said that it was an unprovoked attack.

"We will continue the struggle until the Somali people are free", Sheikh Mukhtar Robow said in response.

Since being ousted from Mogadishu in early 2007, insurgents have carried out attacks against government officials, the Ethiopian forces which are backing the Somali government and African Union peacekeepers.