>> >US strikes on Somalia 'missed target' >By Kim Sengupta >Published: 12 January 2007 >The US air strike in Somalia missed its main target of three senior >al-Qa'ida members, American officials admitted yesterday, as concern >continued to grow over the rising numbers of casualties from the conflict. > >A day after widespread publicity over claims that a "surgical" attack had >killed Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, allegedly involved with the bombing of the >US embassy in Nairobi, it emerged that neither he, nor two other suspects, >Abu Taiha al-Sudani and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, were among the dead. > >US officials insisted the 10 people who were killed in the raid in southern >Somalia were Islamist allies of al-Qa'ida. But a local MP, Abdelgadir Haji, >claimed there had been far larger scale civilian casualties inflicted by >the Americans and their Ethiopian allies. > >Mr Haji said: "The number of the dead we have confirmed until now is 150 >dead. But, every day, new reports are coming in and that number is expected >to rise. > >"America strikes from the air. Ethiopian tanks are coming in over land and >the Kenyan border is closed. The people have no escape. Hundreds of cattle >were killed and no aid is being allowed over the border. It is a hellish >situation." > >In Nairobi an American official said: "The three high-value targets are of >intense interest to us. What we are doing is still ongoing. We are still in >pursuit, us and the Ethiopians." US officials also contradicted a number of >statements by members of Somalia's transitional federal government about >American involvement in the conflict. They maintained that US aircraft had >carried out just one raid and reports of subsequent air strikes were false. > >According to separate, unconfirmed, reports Mohammed and Nabhan's wives and >children were caught trying to cross into Kenya from Ras Kamboni, on >Somalia's southern tip. > >The International Committee of the Red Cross urged all sides in the >conflict to spare civilians. It voiced concern at the growing number of >victims and said 850 wounded had been admitted to medical facilities in >Somalia in recent weeks. An ICRC spokesman said: "Obviously this concerns >the US as they are involved in air strikes there. Our message is also to >the Somali transitional authority, to the Ethiopian forces and Islamist >fighters on the ground." >Also in this section >US 'kills embassy bomber' in Somalia air strikes >Pakistani military experts strengthen Mugabe's army >What this means for a region consumed by war and chaos >British nationals accused of funding Islamist fighters in Horn of Africa >'Many dead' as US bombers return to Somalia to attack 'al-Qa'ida suspects' > >_________________________________________________________________ >Be the first to hear what's new at MSN - sign up to our free newsletters! >http://www.msn.co.uk/newsletters > >¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface >at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] >¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ _________________________________________________________________ MSN Hotmail is evolving – check out the new Windows Live Mail http://ideas.live.com ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤