US launches airstrike on Somali village

US air strikes on sites in southern Somalia believed to be the hideouts of al-Qaida suspects have left "many" dead, it was reported today.

Two helicopters were seen launching attacks today following two strikes by a heavily-armed gunship yesterday. The strikes were believed to be targeting Islamists wanted for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in other African countries.

Officials said suspects had been seen hiding on the remote Badmadow island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border.

[snip]

A senior government official, speaking to Reuters, said he understood there were "many dead bodies and animals in the village" after the first overt military action by the US in Somalia since the 1990s.

"The US were trying to kill the al-Qaida terrorists who carried out the bomb attacks on their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania," Somalia's deputy prime minister, Hussein Aideed, said. "They have our full support for the attacks."

However, the attacks were condemned by the EU today. "Any incident of this kind is not helpful in the long term," Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, a European commission spokesman, said.

Witnesses said at least four civilians were killed in the attack, including a small boy.

Link