Aircraft Attack Al Qaeda Haven, Ike Moves off Somalia

American Forces Press Service ^ | Jim Garamone

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2007 – A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attack in Somalia on Jan. 7 targeted senior terrorist leaders, a senior Pentagon official confirmed today.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters the attack targeted "what we believe to be principal al Qaeda leadership" operating in the southern part of Somalia.

Whitman declined to discuss damage assessments or the effectiveness of the strike, or future operations in the area.

The U.S. 5th Fleet moved the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower into the waters off Somalia in an effort to capture al Qaeda terrorists attempting to flee the country, a 5th Fleet spokesman said.

Whitman said the attacks were aimed at terrorists who may have struck the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. "We are going to continue to work in close cooperation with our allies in the region, who all understand the importance of pursuing terrorist activities and denying them safe havens," he said.

More U.S. ships are moving in to the waters off Somalia to reinforce the maritime interdiction effort there, said U.S. 5th Fleet officials. “Due to rapidly developing events in Somalia, U.S. Central Command has tasked USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to join USS Bunker Hill, USS Anzio and USS Ashland to support ongoing maritime security operations off the coast of Somalia,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for 5th Fleet in Bahrain.

The ships will stop vessels and search them for al Qaeda terrorists attempting to escape from Somalia, officials said.

Related Sites:
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

[colorado tanker]

The Al Qaeda remnants are trapped in the jungle near the Kenyan border. Hopefully, this will become another turkey shoot.

[Enterprise]

President Clinton cut and run. President Bush sends his regards.

[pissant]

Bad day to be a jihadi.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

TANKS,Rat,,,CVN-69 Battle Group has a lotta Firepower
on station for,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,????????,,This ain't just a "Hit-n-Run",,,IMHO...;0)

[popdonnelly]

American Left deeply saddened. Truly, these people don't want to fight Al Qaeda anywhere.

[chiefqc]

Love the motto for the C-130 gunship, "You can run, but you will only be out of breath and tired when you die".

[xkaydet65]

Great motto for a weapon system that can throw down one round for every square meter, and an aimed round at that. My guess is these guys today did not die tired. There was no where to run.

[JOE6PAK]

Upon my command,unleash HELL!

[Candor7]

The NPR news in its VPR manifestation spun the story to make it sound like those killed were innocent civilians.

The liberal MSN spun this story so hard that vertigo set in as I listened.

[2111USMC]

The "Al Queda remnants" are probably just that. Their remnants probably resemble hamburger,

[colorado tanker]

Let's hope so. Reportedly, the people who engineered the Embassy bombings are down there. Let them fight to the death, as they keep claiming they want to do.