U.S. Says Navy SEALs Stage Raid on Somali Militants
Source: New York Times
NAIROBI, Kenya 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 Shababs 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.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/world/africa/mall-attack-also-involved-kenyans-official-says.html?_r=1&
Historic NY
(37,453 posts)WTG
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Ranchemp.
(1,991 posts)Yes, they'll get their paychecks on time.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)"What right does Obama have to succeed where xCommander George AWOL Bush, Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney, and all the rest of our vast cabal of vaunted Republicon Chickenhawks have so miserably and disgracefully FAILED?" - RepubliBaggers (R)
Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)cloudbase
(5,525 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)Last edited Sat Oct 5, 2013, 06:00 PM - Edit history (2)
He wasn't seized, he was killed - big difference!
also....republicans are going to whine that Congress wasn't consulted, but only because they're so damned jealous that the Democrats have a LEADER with cojones!
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Turborama
(22,109 posts)Check out the edits to the OP and the new title at the link: "U.S. Raids in Libya and Somalia Strike Terror Targets"
NCarolinawoman
(2,825 posts)As I understand it, many of these guys are behind a lot of that stuff.... Evil all around.
7962
(11,841 posts)DevonRex
(22,541 posts)And take that and shove it, you republican thugs, too.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)The timing of this operation just happened to require virtually all of the Department of Defense to come back to work early.
But in addition to that, this is a cordial little reminder to the Republicans that the war they started is still ongoing, that the U.S. still operates in a state of emergency created by Republicans, and if the President doesn't get what he wants, he might just call out the Guard and forcibly detain Members of Congress in the Capitol until they fix things (Article II, Section 3, U.S. Const.), which he can do in times of extreme crisis, like right now, thanks to the Republicans.
The House was scheduled to go into recess from October 12-21. Not gonna happen now.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)what happened in the Kenyan mall was horrible.
No drone strike, no collateral damage. Sending in the seals is risky though, they must've wanted him alive. I'll be interested to find out who this character is.
George II
(67,782 posts)vdogg
(1,384 posts)In twin raids in Africa on Saturday, U.S. commandos captured two of the worlds most-wanted terrorists a senior al Qaeda official who allegedly planned 1998 embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania and a high-level target from Somalias al Shabaab, sources tell NBC News.
Word of the dual operations came in quick succession, with the sources first saying that U.S. Special Operations forces captured the unidentified high-value target during a pre-dawn raid on an al Shabaab stronghold in southern Somalia, striking back at the Islamic militant group blamed for the recent attack on a Kenyan shopping mall.
George II
(67,782 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,382 posts)Bosonic
(3,746 posts)The NY Times article has been edited multiple times, as is often the case for LBN articles FYI. It's not practical to assume anyone can continuously monitor the source article for any tweaks...
George II
(67,782 posts)...is noted more than once in the article, and it states that the Seals had to withdraw, indicating that there was NEVER any mention of a "seizure" of anyone.
Was your obnoxious insult truly necessary?
Bosonic
(3,746 posts)That I didn't copy/paste the first 4 paragraphs of the article, and then deliberately change one word for shits and giggles???
I'd have to say mainly because I have a working memory of my past actions.
I'm beginning to think my 'obnoxious insult' was too mild...
Turborama
(22,109 posts)pasto76
(1,589 posts)firing a missile into a building and then waiting... for some manner of battle damage assessment or remotely received intel;
or send in a team of the most highly trained - and these days most experienced, ever- commandos to positively ID, positively engage and positively verify the death of said person. With a dozen sets of eyes to report/debrief as soon as they get back to the ship.
I dont believe that president obama would authorize such an operation unless the intel on this was platinum, and the value of getting this guy dead was high.
vdogg
(1,384 posts)Why is MSNBC the only major American source reporting on this? It's front page on the BBC.
George II
(67,782 posts)...don't you consider them a "major American source"?
vdogg
(1,384 posts)I had visited ABC, CNN, CBS, and FOX, all of which had nothing. Yes, NYT is major, but television outlets and their websites tend to be visited by more people. Perhaps I should have been clearer.
IcyPeas
(21,910 posts)rollin74
(1,990 posts)Daniel537
(1,560 posts)"MOGADISHU, Somalia In a stealthy seaside assault in Somalia, U.S. special forces on Saturday struck out against Islamic extremists who have carried out terrorist attacks in East Africa, before eventually aborting the mission to capture a leading terrorist suspect linked to last month's Nairobi shopping mall attack after a fierce firefight.
A U.S. Navy SEAL team swam ashore near a town in southern Somalia before militants of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Shabab rose for dawn prayers, U.S. and Somali officials told The Associated Press. The raid on a house in the town of Barawe targeted a specific al-Qaeda suspect related to the mall attack, but the operation did not get its target, one current and one former U.S. military official told AP."
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Crowman1979
(3,844 posts)I wonder how that tin-foil asshat will be able to live if he doesn't have access to steaks or whatever else he shoves down his gullet 24/7.