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Aircraft bombs Somalia rebels' stronghold
An unidentified aircraft bombed an rebel stronghold in central Somalia on Thursday, witnesses said, but it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties. US forces have launched several airstrikes inside Somalia in recent months against al Shabaab insurgents who have been fighting Somalia's weak Western-backed interim government and its Ethiopian military allies since the start of last year. "A plane bombarded the outskirts of our village," said Hassan Maalim in Goobgudud, 30 kilometres southwest of Baidoa. "The whole earth shook but we don't know the damage or death it caused. It was flying over us since morning." The identity of the aircraft was unclear. In May, US war planes killed al Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayro, who was said to be al Qaeda's top man in the country. That attack took place in Dusamareb, also in central Somalia. Washington says al Shabaab has links to Al Qaeda and says it has provided a safe haven for militants including the bombers of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Underlining growing insecurity in the capital Mogadishu, the children's charity SOS said on Thursday it was closing two schools there and evacuating four teachers who were detained by Somali security forces during a nearby gunbattle on Tuesday. Posted by: Fred 2008-10-10 |
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