Monday, September 27, 2010
A U.S. attack helicopter last year killed a senior al-Qaida leader near the southern Somali town of Merca. Residents there said they witnessed a helicopter firing on militants in the area during the weekend, though Washington said it wasn't involved in the latest raid, the BBC reports.
Al-Shabaab said rocket fire during the weekend missed killing several of its key leaders. Correspondents for the news agency said no foreign military was likely to claim responsibility for a failed attack, however.
Johnnie Carson, a deputy spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said last week that Washington was reaching out to groups in southern Somalia who are opposed to al-Shabaab but haven't backed the transitional government in Mogadishu.
"And we will look for opportunities to work with these groups to see if we can identify them, find ways of supporting their development initiatives and activities," he said during a news conference.
The African Union is seeking more troops for its mission in Somalia to prop up the embattled transitional government, which controls only a tiny portion of the nation's capital.
The mandate for the transitional government expires in August. The United Nations is pressuring Somali leaders to stand in solidarity against Islamist militants, though the country's prime minister resigned last week in part because of differences with the country's president.
Source: UPI