http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/07/us-navy-raid-somalia-target
Kenyan militant commander named as target of US Somali raid
Pentagon confirms target was Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir as Kenya's
intelligence release report accusing him of plotting attack on Nairobi
parliament
Abdalle Ahmed in Mogadishu and David Smith in Johannesburg
The Guardian, Monday 7 October 2013
The target of a failed US navy Seals raid in Somalia at the weekend was a
Kenyan who plotted attacks on parliament buildings and the UN headquarters
in Nairobi, the Pentagon has confirmed.
George Little, the Pentagon press secretary, said Abdulkadir Mohamed
Abdulkadir, also known as Ikrima, was the focus of the pre-dawn amphibious
assault that was beaten back after a heavy firefight. The Pentagon
identified Abdulkadir as a top commander in the Islamist militant group
al-Shabaab.
In an internal report by Kenya's national intelligence service, leaked to
media after last month's killings at the Westgate shopping mall, Abdulkadir
is named as the lead planner of a plot sanctioned by al-Qaida's core
leadership in Pakistan to perpetrate attacks in Kenya in late 2011 and
early 2012. Targets included the parliament, the UN and military bases if
the plan had gone ahead.
Abdulkadir is a Kenyan citizen of Somali origin, thought to be in his 30s.
He is known to have lived for a time in Mombasa, Kenya, where he recruited
fighters for al-Shabaab. He has travelled to countries including Eritrea,
South Africa and Sudan, sources said.
He came to Somalia in 2006 and was among a group of African fighters from
al-Qaida who joined al-Shabaab, according to Mohamed Jibril, a former
member of the Islamic Courts Union, a group of Sharia courts that held sway
over much of Somalia before the rise of al-Shabaab.
The Pentagon alleged that Abdulkadir was a close associate of Fazul
Abdullah Mohammed, who topped the FBI's most wanted list for planning the
1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and to have taken over his
position on behalf of al-Qaida in east Africa following Abdullah's death in
2011. The Pentagon statement also linked him to Saleh Naben, and alleged
that both men had played a part in the 1998 embassy bombings and the 2002
attacks on a hotel and airline in Mombassa.
Little said: "While the operation did not result in Ikrima's capture, US
military personnel conducted the operation with unparalleled precision and
demonstrated that the United States can put direct pressure on al-Shabaab
leadership at any time of our choosing."
There are conflicting reports of how Ikrima survived Saturday's stealthy
assault on Barawe by the same US navy Seal unit that killed Osama bin
Laden. One source claimed Abdulkadir was inside the targeted house and
sustained injuries, while his special bodyguard, a non-Somali, was killed.
But in a voice recording posted on a pro-Shabaab website, its military
spokesman Abdiasis Abu Mus'ab denied that any senior commander of the group
was inside the house at the time. "We confirm that only security personnel
were inside the house. No such high-target person was staying in the house."
Fresh details of the unsuccessful raid emerged on Monday. An elder in
Barawe, who did not wish to be named, said: "The attackers from the US
first divided into two groups. 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-Shabaab fighter was killed. Al-Shabaab had more
fighters inside and they fought extremely hard against the Americans."
The elder continued: "The Americans tried to enter room by room into the
house to start searching for the big fish but al-Shabaab got reinforcing
fighters from other houses and then the situation deteriorated until the
Americans retreated. We saw their boots on the ground and also one hand
grenade and three rounds of ammunition left by the American forces."
Unlike its Libyan counterpart, where a separate US raid led to the capture
of an alleged al-Qaida leader, the Somali government did not initially
object to the US operation. However, as the picture became clearer, some
dissenting voices were raised.
Dahir Amin, an MP, said: "It was unfortunate that US special forces entered
into Somali territory. This violates the diplomatic protection which every
nation in the world has. No country would agree to foreign forces entering
its soil without known permission. I am ashamed that our prime minister
speaks about the attack 48 hours later."
Amin called for the government to set up an inquiry into national security
and for the interior minister to demand a more detailed explanation of the
covert operation.
But Abdurahman Omar, senior adviser to the president, insisted that "the
operation was a joint one and the federal government of Somalia was
informed about the attack. The target was a big al-Shabaab commander, whom
I do not want to name at this moment."
* This article was amended on 8 October 2013. As the result of an editing
error, an earlier version described George Little as the defence secretary.
He is the Pentagon press secretary.
Received on Tue Apr 08 2014 - 10:37:29 EDT