US in Africa raids
Libya, Somalia operations show ‘terrorists can run, but can’t hide’
US RAIDS in Libya and Somalia that captured an Islamist wanted for bombing its Nairobi embassy 15 years ago, show Washington’s determination to hunt down alQaeda leaders around the globe, Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday.
Libyan Nazih al-Ragye, better known by the cover name Abu Anas al-Liby, was seized by US forces in Tripoli on Saturday, the Pentagon said.
A seaborne raid on the Somali port of Barawe, a stronghold of the al-Shabaab movement behind last month’s attack on a Kenyan mall, failed to take or kill its target.
“We hope this makes clear that the United States of America will never stop in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror,” Kerry said during a visit to Bali.
“Those members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations literally can run but they can’t hide,” Kerry said.
The twin raids, two years after a US Navy SEAL team killed al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, demonstrated US reach at a time when Islamist militants have been expanding their presence in Africa – not least in Libya following the Western-backed overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya’s government, wary of an Islamist backlash, demanded an explanation for the “kidnapping” of one of its citizens.
Abdul Bassit Haroun, a former Islamist militia commander who works with the Libyan government on security, warned that Islamist militants would hit back violently.
“There will be a strong reaction in order to take revenge because this is one of the most important al-Qaeda figures.”
Liby, who the FBI says is 49, has been under US indictment since 2000 for his alleged role in bombing the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 224 people.
The target of the Somali operation was unclear but a US official was quoted as saying it was planned in response to the Nairobi mall attack two weeks ago in which 67 were killed.
That highlighted the risk of Somalia’s civil conflict destabilising a resource-rich continent where Islamists have been on the rise in recent years.
Launched in the early hours of Saturday, the Somali raid appears to have featured a beach landing in hostile territory that was followed by an extended firefight. US officials said SEALs conducted the raid and had killed al-Qaeda-allied alShabaab fighters while taking no casualties themselves.
Somali police said seven people were killed during the operation.
Somalia’s Western-backed government, still trying to establish its authority after two decades of civil war, holds little sway in Barawe, 180km south of Mogadishu.
Asked of his involvement in the US operation, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said: “We have collaboration with the world and with neighbouring countries in the battle against al-Shabaab.” – Reuters