A US warplane on Monday attacked a village in southern Somalia in an attempt to destroy an Al-Qaida cell accused of bombing two US embassies and an Israeli-owned hotel in east Africa.
The strike killed eight to ten "terrorist targets" but the United States was still in pursuit of the three most wanted suspects, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The first overt US military intervention in Somalia for more than a decade targeted Comorian Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Sudanese Abu Talha al-Sudani and Kenyan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.
The US official, who is based in the region, rejected Somali reports that dozens of civilians were killed, saying only militants died.
"All I can say... is that it was a targeted strike at Al-Qaida connected or affiliated people," he said. "We and the Ethiopians and everyone else wants to interdict terrorists."
US ally Ethiopia, which sent its military into Somalia before Christmas to oust Islamists who threatened to overrun the country's interim government, continued air attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday in pursuit of fleeing fighters.
The Pentagon denied it had mounted any strikes after Monday.
Wives, children arrested
Kenyan authorities have arrested the wives and three children of two of the senior Al-Qaida suspects, a Kenyan counter-terrorism source said yesterday.
The suspects are wanted for 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and a 2002 hotel blast on the Kenyan coast.
Mohammed and Nabhan's wives and children were caught trying to cross into Kenya from Ras Kamboni, on Somalia's southern tip, long thought by Western and east African intelligence agencies to be the site of a militant training camp.
"They were arrested on Monday at Kiunga. They headed for Nairobi today in a police chopper for questioning," the source said.
Kenyan police made no official comment.
The US government is offering a $5 million reward for the capture of Mohammed, indicted in a federal court for his alleged role in the bombings.
Four other male suspects caught in another attempt to cross the border were also being driven to Nairobi for questioning, the source said.
Related News
Photos
More>>
trade
- Workers were building Waiting Pavilions in the dock of black awning boats in
- Celebration of the 2500th anniversary of the founding of Shaoxing and Press
- Candidates of World Choir Games' Volunteers started training
- Shaoxing Luxun Primary School held World Choir Games and Me activity
- The Choir from the Philippines will Sing with the Bamboo Flutes