Civilians reported dead in US strikes on Somalia
Helicopter gunships attacked suspected al-Qaida fighters in southern Somalia a today – a day after US forces launched airstrikes in the eastern African nation.
A Somali politician said 31 civilians, including two newlyweds, died in today’s assault, which was the first offensive in the African country since 18 American soldiers were killed there in 1993.
The attack was launched by two helicopters near Afmadow, a town in an area of forested hills close to the Kenyan border 220 miles south-west of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
A US intelligence official later said the United States killed five to 10 individuals in the attack.
Italy today criticised the attacks on Somalia, expressing concern that “one-sided” action could worsen tensions in the region and carry a high cost of innocent lives.
“Regarding the US military operations in Somalia, deputy premier and foreign minister Massimo D’Alema has reiterated Italy’s opposition to unilateral initiatives which could set off new tensions in an area already marked by high instability,” the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Such operations also carry a high cost in terms of innocent victims among the civilian population,” the ministry statement said.
Italy, a former colonial ruler of Somalia, urged international institutions, including regional ones, to multiply their efforts “to favour a pacification process both internal and among bordering nations,” the ministry said. D’Alema called for dialogue among the various components of Somali society “to permit the isolation of violent factions and to effectively counter every risk of the development of formations tied to international terrorism.”
A Somali defence ministry official described the helicopters as American, but the local witnesses told The Associated Press they could not make out identification markings on the craft. Washington officials had no comment on the helicopter strike.
The US is targeting Islamic extremists, said the Somali defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. Earlier, Somalia’s president said the Us was hunting suspects in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa, and had his support.
His troops and their Ethiopian backers were attacked in the capital tonight by gunmen riding in two pick up trucks firing two rocket propelled grenades, witnesses said. That attack was followed by several minutes of rifle fire. It was not immediately clear if anyone had been injured.
Somali Islamic extremists are accused of sheltering suspects in the embassy bombings, and American officials also want to make sure the militants will no longer pose a threat to Somalia’s UN-backed transitional government.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Slana said he told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday that a UN peacekeeping force may be needed to guarantee security and stability in Somalia. He said Ugandan soldiers may be the first deployed to replace Ethiopian troops.
European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said today that the US airstrikes would not contribute to bringing about long-term peace.
