Posted on 05/05/2005 9:30:10 PM PDT by Skywarner
US Marines land on Somali coast to hunt militants
By Hussein Ali Nur Thu May 5, 9:11 AM ET
U.S. Marines landed on Somalia's coast in one of their most visible hunts for militants in the country since they set up a Horn of Africa counter terrorism force in 2002, Somali officials said on Thursday.
Two boats brought about 20 lightly armed Marines to the fishing village of Maydh in the northwestern enclave of Somaliland on Tuesday, where they showed pictures of suspected "terrorists" to locals before leaving, residents said.
"They met some of the fishermen and the people and they showed some pictures they were carrying, saying that these people are terrorists that they are trying to capture," Assistant District Commissioner Ali Abdi told Reuters.
It was not clear who the Marines were looking for.
The Marines' arrival coincided with signs of U.S. military activity elsewhere along the coast of Somaliland, a relatively stable region which declared independence in 1991 to escape chaos engulfing the rest of Somalia, but which is not internationally recognized.
Two U.S. military helicopters flew low over parts of the Gulf of Aden port of Berbera on Wednesday, including the docks, airport, a fuel depot and former barracks, residents said.
Reporters said three U.S. vessels, including a helicopter carrier, had been spotted on Tuesday at the port of Las Qorei, where Marines questioned fishermen about local shipping.
Somaliland's interior minister declined to comment. Officers from the U.S. task force based in neighboring Djibouti since December 2002 to hunt down any militants in the region were not immediately contactable for comment.
Washington fears al Qaeda cells may be seeking new havens in the Horn of Africa where weak political institutions and poor policing of deserts and coastlines might provide places for militants to plan attacks on Western targets elsewhere.
In late 2003, some militia bosses and ordinary residents reported that a top al Qaeda suspect -- Fazul Abdullah Mohammed from the Indian Ocean Comoros islands -- had been spotted in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
U.S. officials say he masterminded the bombings at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in 2002 that took place within minutes of a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner.
In March 2003, a suspected associate of Fazul, Suleiman Abdalla Salim Hemed, a Yemeni, was captured in Mogadishu with the help of warlord Mohammed Dheere and taken into U.S. custody.
Activities by the U.S. force are usually largely invisible to the public, which aims to deter militants from operating in the region through approaches including training national security forces, aerial surveillance and checks on shipping.
My apologies if this is a repost - I did a search but found nothing.
Reuters sucks ass
Good grief... some Marines in a small boat pull up to some fishing village and ask around if they've seen somebody that looks like this guy in the picture... and then get back in the boat and move on...
...and somehow the headline is "US Marines land on Somali coast!"... it's almost funny.
And... [comm check] earth to reuters...
If the US Marines were "landing" in a full amphibious assault... it would be somewhat more... unmistakable.
Love those "secret" ops that get covered by international news.
No lame-ass Blackhawks this time please. Just bombers.
The worst part about this story is the fact that Spec Ops landed in Somolia back in late 2001, this latest movement was most likely sparked by the capture of Al Zacqari's laptop computer, the same laptop that most likely revealed the location and led to the capture of Al-Libby last week
I was thinking the same thing. And paybacks being what they are...
Bite your tongue! There WERE NO 'LAMEASS' blackhawks..only a LAME ASS PRESIDENT and LEFT WINGED POLITICIANS when that crap went down! SHAME ON U! Go give yourself thirty lashes.
Seems like a news .
for later...
"lightly armed"
sigh...
This is not about 1993. I am no a fan of the Blackhawk, whether in Somalia, Iraq or anywhere.
remember the LAST time we went into a bees nest with not enough men?
I'm sure Reuters didn't mean it this way, but this is a good news story. Lots going on in the GWOT that the MSM doesn't know about or isn't telling us. Keep up the good work guys - no hit in the US since 9-11. Keep taking the war to them.
It was not clear who the Marines were looking for.
Reuters, of course, got it completely wrong. I love it when amateurs try to judge professionals.
We had enough men, it's just that Klin-Ton would not let the military use them. This time, the President isn't going to deny permission for the reinforcements to be used - and reinforcements are not very far away this time.
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