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Somalia: US took bodies of militants after strike

01 July 2011 20:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. U.S. military forces landed in Somalia to retrieve the bodies of dead or wounded militants after a U.S. drone strike targeted a group of insurgents, Somalia’s defense minister told The Associated Press on Friday, APA reports quoting â€œAssociated Pressâ€.
The operation is at least the second time U.S. troops have landed in Somalia after a targeted strike, though no forces have been stationed there since shortly after the "Black Hawk Down" battle that left 18 Americans dead.
Defense Minister Abdulhakim Mohamoud Haji Faqi called on the U.S. to carry out more airstrikes against the al-Qaida-linked militants.
Somali officials apparently were not informed about the June 23 operation near the southern coastal town of Kismayo beforehand.
"But we are not complaining about that. Absolutely not. We welcome it," Faqi told The Associated Press. "We understand the U.S.’s need to quickly act on its intelligence on the ground," he said. "We urge the U.S. to continue its strikes against al-Shabab because if it keeps those strikes up, it will be easier for us to defeat al-Shabab."
U.S. officials have increased their warnings that the threat from Somalia’s al-Shabab militant group is growing and that militants are developing stronger ties with the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
Incoming Pentagon chief Leon Panetta told lawmakers last month that as the core al-Qaida leadership in Pakistan undergoes leadership changes, with the killing of Osama bin Laden, the U.S. needs to make sure that the group does not relocate to Somalia.
In 2009, U.S. helicopters swooped over a convoy carrying the al-Qaida fugitive Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was killed in the U.S. raid. Elite commandos rappelled to the ground and collected two bodies.
African Union forces â€” led by troops from Uganda and Burundi â€” have gained ground in an offensive this year against al-Shabab fighters in Mogadishu. The Pentagon is sending nearly $45 million in military equipment, including four small drones, to Uganda and Burundi to help their troops in Mogadishu.
Somalia hasn’t had a functioning government since 1991, a state of chaos that has allowed militancy and piracy to flourish.