Somali Al Qaeda-linked group vows to avenge US raid

Posted on 16. Sep, 2009 by Shera Crossan in Events, Feedback, Immigration, Politics, Race, Religion

According to US officials and Western security sources, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan citizen wanted by the FBI over the 2002 anti-Israeli attacks in Mombasa, was killed in an airborne raid in southern Somalia on Monday.

The rare operation, which witnesses said involved several helicopters, dealt a blow to Al Qaeda’s operations in East Africa but the Shebab, an extremist jihadi group, pledged to strike back.

“Muslims will retaliate against this unprovoked attack,” a top Shebab leader told AFP. “The United States is Islam’s known enemy and we will never expect mercy from them, nor should they expect mercy from us.”

“We are investigating the matter and if any Somali is found to have aided the attackers, then he or she shall face Allah’s verdict,” he said on condition of anonymity.

The Shebab official refused to elaborate on the circumstances of the operation, in which several other militants are believed to have been killed. Meanwhile, the governor of the Lower Shabelle region where the attack happened told a press conference in Mogadishu that three civilians were also killed in the operation, the details of which remain sketchy.

“There were casualties in the attack carried out by the Americans in the region: two civilians in a nearby vehicle and a woman on the scene of the attack. Five other civilians were also wounded,” Abdulkadir Sheikh Mohamed said.More