Friday, October 11, 2013
The Navy Seals' stealthy assault on the militant group in a Somali village has gone awry.
As a mother of young children, Fadumo Sheikh is used to rising early.
On October 5, she was due to prepare breakfast before the family went
to the local madrasa.
But the day started earlier than usual when, at about 2am, she was woken
by the sound of sporadic gunfire.
Within sight of Sheikh's home in Barawe, Somalia, crack United States
Navy Seals had launched a lightning amphibious assault on the Islamist
militant group al-Shabab. Less than an hour later, they would be forced
to retreat, their mission far from accomplished.
Based on interviews with witnesses and members of al-Shabab, as well
as official statements and media reports, we can present the most
comprehensive picture yet of the daring predawn raid – and where it went
wrong.
The Seals's target was an innocuous two-storey beachside house in
Barawe, a fishing town of about 200000 people that was a crucial slave
trade port in the colonial era. In particular, they had planned the
delicate operation of capturing, not killing, Abdulkadir Mohamed
Abdulkadir, a Kenyan of Somali origin and senior commander of al-Shabab
who was linked to a number of terrorist plots.
The house, about 200m from the sea on the town's east side, is
understood to be used by foreign extremists who have gone to Somalia to
take up al-Shabab's cause. The group's presence there was not news to
Sheikh.
"I live in a house near the beach and I used to see the house every
day. There were so many al-Shabab fighters entering and coming out," she
said. "I usually see them going back and forth, but I had never thought
that so important a person was living inside the house."
Early morning gunfire was unusual, Sheikh continued, except when
al-Shabab was conducting training exercises. "I raised my ears and I
continued to hear the gunfire growing. I had no feeling or thought of
such an attack from the Americans. I looked at my watch about 30 minutes
later and heard one explosion and then, a few minutes later, another
explosion occurred, like boom!"
What had been invisible to Sheikh and other residents of Barawe was
the stealthy advance of Navy Seal team six – the same unit that killed
Osama bin Laden in Pakistan – in a speedboat towards the Somalian
coastline before first light. The team consisted of about 20 Seals,
according to leaked accounts, and their craft was flanked on the Indian
Ocean by three small boats to provide backup.
The Seals swept ashore, but not everyone in Barawe was asleep in those chilly early morning hours.
Abdurahman Yarow, a longtime resident of the town, recalled: "I was
wrapping my turban on my neck and head to protect against the cold and
heading to the mosque. When I had nearly entered it, I heard a sound
behind me. I saw what looked like three big cows going to the north of
the mosque – it was dark so I could not identify well what they were.
"After only 10 minutes I heard the first guns – that is, when the gun
battle occurred between al-Shabab fighters in the house and the US
forces. I now understand the big cows I saw in the night were the
American special forces with their military bags on their backs going in
the direction of the house they targeted."
The Seals took up positions inside the house's compound, according to
a report by NBC, which continued: "Then a lone al-Shabab fighter walked
out into plain view, smoked a cigarette, and went back inside," one
source familiar with the details of the raid said. "The fighter played
it cool, and gave no indication that he had spotted the Seals. But he
came back out shooting, firing rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle."
The element of surprise had been lost and al-Shabab's fighters
unleashed gunfire and grenades, and the cacophony rang out across the
town. But the Seals continued with the offensive, according to an elder
who did not wish to be named.
"The attackers from the US divided into two groups," he said. "Group
one, comprising six men, stormed the house and began shooting the people
inside it, while group two, also of at least six men, were staying
outside the house. The worst shooting took place inside, where one
al-Shabab fighter was killed. Al-Shabab had more fighters inside and
they fought extremely hard against the Americans."
The elder continued: "The Americans tried to enter room by room in
the house to start searching for the big fish, but al-Shabab got
reinforcing fighters from other houses and then the situation
deteriorated until the Americans retreated."
According to the NBC account, several Seals could see Abdulkadir
through windows, but he was heavily protected; according to al-Shabab,
he was not in the building. Although Pentagon officials have been
reluctant to provide a full narrative, they have said US forces
retreated from the gun battle out of a concern for potential civilian
casualties. Details leaked to the press suggest that the compound
contained far more women and children than the Seals expected.
The commandos returned to their boat, grateful for having suffered no casualties, and finally there was calm.
Sheikh recalled: "At 3am the call for prayer started, and all the
gunfire stopped. A neighbour called me on the phone and said there is an
attack against the mujahideen. When it became safe enough to see
everything outside, I came out to look around.
"Outside the house that came under attack there were some fighters of al-Shabab and some residents come to witness the incident.
"These al-Shabab fighters were not talking to the people. Some of
them were masked and you could not see their faces. I saw one dead man
and he was loaded into a car for burial. They were saying 'the martyr',
which is the only word that you can understand for an al-Shabab member
who's been killed."
The dead man was Abdulkadir's bodyguard, according to one source in
the town. On Tuesday, the Somali defence minister, Abdihakim Haji
Mohamud Fiqi, said two al-Shabab members had been killed: "We have found
that two senior commanders – one of them foreign – were killed in the
attack despite the top target not being found."
A United Nations official in Somalia also said two al-Shabab figures
had been killed: one Sudanese man and another of Somali and Swedish
origin.
Sheikh said: "There were more fighters and supporters of al-Shabab
coming to the house in the morning; they were vowing that they will kill
anyone who is found working with the nonbelievers.
"On the beach, the residents were looking at items left by US forces.
I saw a grey military bulletproof jacket. There was also blood
scattered on the ground. There were military boots on the ground, which
we suspect were those of the Americans."
In the aftermath of the US assault, al-Shabab deployed more heavily
armed fighters to patrol the streets of Barawe, and also posted men and
anti-aircraft weapons on the beach. There was also a local backlash and a
hunt for suspected informants who may have helped US intelligence to
locate the house.
A man who frequently used the local internet café was arrested on Sunday and is still being held.
Al-Shabab took control of Barawe in 2008 and it became a refuge for
its senior figures after they lost control of the capital, Mogadishu,
and other towns in 2011. These have included the leader Ahmed Godane,
who has been described as Africa's most wanted man after the Westgate
mall attack in Nairobi; Omar Hammami, the so-called jihadist rapper from
Alabama, killed last month after falling out with Godane; and
Abdulkadir.
Barawe is about 200km from Mogadishu. The nearest town that the
government and African Union forces control is Shalanbood, only 110km
away. To the east is the Ambaresa training camp for al-Shabab's foreign
fighters.
The events on October 5 could boost al-Shabab's confidence in its
defences, but also give it notice that the world's most powerful
military is ready to bring the battle to its doorstep.
Speaking at a mosque in Barawe on Monday night, al-Shabab's military
operations spokesperson Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab said: "Western
countries … have to bear in mind we know that we are your target, but we
will not be caught off guard.
"We know you are sharpening your knives to cut our heads off. We know
our enemies. We will not oversleep so you can attack us at once. We are
always vigilant and your cowardly attacks will end in failure."
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, who studies Somalia and al-Shabab at the
Foundation for the Defence of Democracies, described Barawe as "right
now the strongest area of sanctuary" for the militant group. He said it
was likely that al-Shabab expected something like a foreign raid after
it perpetrated the attack on Nairobi's Westgate mall.
Gartenstein-Ross said the probable immediate response by al-Shabab
would centre on strengthening its internal security and grip on Barawe,
rather than launching another terror attack.
"The raid has made them very nervous," he said. "In Barawe, it's
already been reported that al-Shabab has implemented curfews. There will
be an uptick in operational security and they will certainly use the
way they repulsed this attack by navy Seals as a propaganda piece."