Africa:
Failed Raid Follows Disagreements in U.S. Govt - Report
7 October 2013
Cape
Town — United States special forces failed in their objective of seizing a
senior planner of al Shabaab operations in a "snatch-and-grab" raid
on the coastal town of Barawe, American newspapers reported on Monday.
The
latest official U.S. government statement
on two weekend raids focused most attention on the successful capture in
Libya of Abu Anas al-Libi, an alleged al Qaeda militant linked to the 1998
bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
But
the New York Times reported an unidentified American official as saying that
the target of the Somali raid was "a Kenyan of Somali origin known as
Ikrimah" who helped plan attacks outside Somalia.
Also
quoting unnamed government officials, the Washington Post said that the raid "appears to have
failed". It reported that U.S. Navy SEALs (Sea, Sea, Air, Land Teams)
stormed the suspected hideout of an al Shabaab leader on Friday night, but that
"troops retreated after an intense gunfight unfolded, fearing that
escalating it could result in civilian casualties".
The
first leaked report on the Barawe raid, carried on the New York Times website
on Saturday, said a SEAL team had succeeded in seizing a "senior
leader" of al Shabaab. But 45 minutes later, the Times said officials had
"backed off" that report.
"Witnesses
described a firefight lasting over an hour, with helicopters called in for air
support," the Times reported. "A senior Somali government official
who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, 'The attack was carried out by
the American forces, and the Somali government was pre-informed about the
attack.'"
In
another report, the Times characterised the weekend events as "a tale of
two raids, one that succeeded and one that did not".
The
Libyan operation was "a long-sought victory for the United States"
but "the failure of the Somalia operation underscored the limits of
America's power even for one of its most storied military units".
The
newspaper also reported that there had been "simmering debate" within
the U.S. Government about whether such raids were worth the risk to American
lives, with State Department officials questioning their strategic value, but
special operations commanders advocating a more aggressive response to al Shabaab.
President
Barack Obama had "signed off" on both the Libyan and the Somali
raids, the Times said.
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