Raid on Al Shabab

[besilarius]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/05/us-somalia-rebels-idUSBRE99401S20131005

This initial report sounds garbled.  British and Turkish specops attacking in Somalia?

[endfire79]

I heard about that today - not much information, except from Al-Shabab

[LongBlade]

Initial reports are always garbled - in part to confuse the enemy.

In a couple of days we'll have a good idea what took place.

[steve58]

...or maybe it was the USA?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/05/navy-seal-seize-shabab-somalia/2928631/

[Staggerwing]

The NBC story says that the Seals captured a high-value target. If it turns out to be the Chechen who is allegedly actually orchestrating the Al Shish-kebab attacks then we may get some valuable intel into how these 'foreign fighters' get moved around and how they assume positions of importance so quickly once they get 'in theater'. That could be valuable in places like Syria and Mali as well.

[Dolan50]

According to the Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Navy SEALs took part in a predawn raid in Somalia on Saturday, a strike aimed at capturing a senior leader of the al-Shabaab militant group.

The raid failed to capture the senior militant and it isn't clear if the senior leader was killed, although several al-Shabaab members were killed, according to an official.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a Nairobi shopping mall. But the raid wasn't a direct response to the attack on the mall, according to the U.S. official.

The raid, in the Somali town of Barawe, appeared to be the most significant strike by American commandoes in the country in years.

The SEALs called off the mission to capture the militant after the gunbattle appeared to put civilians at risk. "We disengaged after the initial assault on al-Shabaab. We took precautions to minimize civilian casualties," the official said.

The official said it wasn't clear if the senior al-Shabaab leader had a direct role in the Nairobi attack.

Officials said the senior al-Shabaab member was a militant the U.S. had been watching for some time, since before the Nairobi attack.

The fact that the raid was aimed at capturing the militant is unusual, although not without precedent. In April 2011, commandos captured Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, a militant with ties to al-Shabaab, as he was crossing the Gulf of Aden.

Barawe is a stronghold of al-Shabaab, a militant group aligned with al Qaeda.

The U.S. officials wouldn't say whether the militant leader who was targeted in the raid was killed.

U.S. operations in Somalia have been limited since the downing of a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter in October 1993.

In January 2012, SEALs parachuting in staged a rescue of two aid workers held by militants. Four years ago, special operation forces targeted an al Qaeda leader near the same Somali town.

[Dolan50]

Also today-

U.S. forces launched attacks against terrorist targets in Somalia and Libya on Saturday, capturing an al Qaeda leader wanted for his role in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, according to multiple media reports.

Unnamed sources told NBC News and the Times that U.S. forces near Tripoli, Libya, captured al-Qaeda member Abu Anas al-Libi, who is believed to have helped plan the 1998 U.S. Embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 220 people. The FBI had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.

Al-Libi, whose real name is Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, was linked to Osama bin Laden and could ultimately be brought to the U.S. to stand trial, NBC reported. He has been on the USA's most-wanted fugitives list since 2000, when a New York court indicted him for his role in the embassy attacks, the Times reported.

[LongBlade]

Huh. Going after the guy responsible for Benghazi. Didn't see that coming.

[Staggerwing]

According to the quote, not Benghazi but Tanzania and Kenya.

[GDS_Starfury]

here in'Merica all those places are in the same part of Australia.  ::)

[Staggerwing]

^Across the street from... well, you know who.

[bob48]

Is it possible that 'You Know Who' is behind any of this......he's crazy enough after all.

[LongBlade]

According to the quote, not Benghazi but Tanzania and Kenya.

Ahem.

One operation took place early Saturday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, when U.S. forces captured Abu Anas al Libi, an al Qaeda operative wanted for his role in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/06/world/africa/us-forces-africa-terrorist-raids/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Star, you may now apologize, but I will only accept it if it uses proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

[GDS_Starfury]

What am I apologizing for this time?

[LongBlade]

What am I apologizing for this time?

The list is long. A generic one will do, I suppose.