MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Helicopter gunships attacked suspected al Qaeda fighters in the south Tuesday after U.S. forces staged airstrikes in the first offensive in the African country since 18 American soldiers were killed there in 1993, witnesses said.
Witnesses said 31 civilians, including two newlyweds, died in the assault by two helicopters near Afmadow, a town in an area of forested hills close to the Kenyan border 220 miles southwest of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. The report could not be independently verified.
A Somali Defense Ministry official described the helicopters as American, but the local witnesses told The Associated Press they could not make out identification markings on the craft. Washington officials had no comment.
On Monday, at least one U.S. AC-130 gunship attacked Islamic extremists in Hayi, 30 miles from Afmadow, and on a remote island 155 miles away believed to be an al Qaeda training camp at the southern tip of Somalia next to Kenya. Somali officials said they had reports of many deaths.
A U.S. intelligence official said the U.S. killed five to 10 individuals in this week's attack in southern Somalia. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity, said a small number of others present, perhaps four or five, at the targeted area were also wounded.
The U.S. was still trying to figure out who they were -- a process that may require a mix of intelligence and getting personnel to the scene.
The U.S. is targeting Islamic extremists, said the Somali defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. Earlier, Somalia's president said the U.S. was hunting suspects in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, and had his support. Read More
