Posted on 10/05/2013 2:31:01 PM PDT by kristinn
A Navy SEAL team targeted a senior leader of the Shabab militant group in a raid on his seaside villa in the Somali town of Baraawe on Saturday, American officials said, in response to a deadly attack on a Nairobi shopping mall for which the group had claimed responsibility.
The SEAL team stealthily approached the beachfront house by sea, firing on the unidentified target in a predawn gunbattle that was the most significant raid by American troops on Somali soil since commandos killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Qaeda mastermind, near the same town four years ago.
The Shabab leader was believed to have been killed in the firefight, but the SEALS were forced to withdraw before that could be confirmed, a senior American official said. Such operations by American forces are rare because they carry a high risk, and indicate that the target was considered a high priority. Baraawe, a small port town south of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, is known as a gathering place for the Shabab’s foreign fighters.
“The Baraawe raid was planned a week and a half ago,” said an American security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity about a classified operation. “It was prompted by the Westgate attack,” he added, referring to the mall in Nairobi that was overrun by militants two weeks ago, leaving more than 60 dead.
Witnesses in the area described a firefight lasting over an hour, with helicopters called in for air support. A senior Somali government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the raid, saying, “The attack was carried out by the American forces and the Somali government was pre-informed about the attack.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Terrorists seem to like that town, a couple of years from now, another terrorist leader will undoubtedly be killed near this town.
why not simply destroy the town and everything and everyone in it?
Obama desperate for so good press
Dang! I’m losin’ it. I thought this was another article about Detroit.
Now we know what all the fuss was about in Somalia in yesterday’s threads. There was some talk about an attack from offshore, hmmmm...
/johnny
What? Obamabarrycade letting our SEALS kill the real bad guys????? Hmmmm?
Any word yet on the Benghazi killers?
“Terrorists seem to like that town, a couple of years from now, another terrorist leader will undoubtedly be killed near this town. why not simply destroy the town and everything and everyone in it?”
You mean DC?
———Somali government——
I was unaware there was a functioning Somalia government. ...
I will agree that DC needs to be fumigated, but destroyed — not just yet.
Why in the hell weren’t the helicopters called in to launch a couple of dozen missiles at the house?
Sounds like a great training facility for Ohio class submarine transported SEALS who can do some good while keeping their skills honed. If all the dirtbagz enjoy having the upscale seaside villa as a crash pad then why not leave it so we know where we can find them? Or melt it down-—I’m not locked in to either way.
ping
good point about knowing where terrorists like to hang out.
I did not think about it in that context.
thanks.
My guess is that they wanted to snatch someone, otherwise a couple of bombs or missiles could have been used if they were looking to kill them.
Wait, it’s not too late for plan B.
Very cool. Good for our guys. But why wasn’t it the target for a B-52 and a full load? There’s no need to fight rifle to rifle and expose our men to that kind of danger.
Another great effort by the SEALS, but we should not be releasing info through the NY Times.
God Bless our Navy SEALS!!
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