France defends failed Somali raid
2013-01-14 10:18
Mogadishu - Somali witnesses said at least eight civilians
were killed in a disastrous French operation to rescue a secret agent, but
France's defence minister defended the decision to launch the raid.
Sources in lawless Somalia suggested the reason Saturday's
raid had failed was that the al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group holding the hostage
had received advance warning.
The United States meanwhile, confirmed that it had played a
limited support role in the French mission.
"Four civilians, including three from one family, are
among the dead," resident Adan Derow said by telephone Sunday. "They
were all killed outside Bulomarer, where the French commandos landed before
entering the city."
The victims were a couple, their son and another man, other
residents said.
"We don't know why those civilians were killed"
outside Bulomarer, where the raid took place, added another resident, Ali
Moalim Hassan.
"Four other civilians were also caught in the crossfire
and died in the town of Bulomarer" during a pitched battle between French
commandos and Islamist fighters. They included a woman, her child and a local
market guard, residents said.
On Saturday, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said
one French soldier had died and another had gone missing during the raid,
adding that 17 guerrillas had been killed.
Technical support
He said "all indications" pointed to the
conclusion that the hostage, a French intelligence agent with the alias of
Denis Allex, had been killed by his captors.
The Shabaab denied Allex was dead, but said they would
decide his fate within two days. They also claimed they had captured a wounded
member of the French assault team.
Le Drian said on Sunday that French troops had
underestimated the Islamist rebels' strength when they launched the overnight
operation, which involved some 50 troops and at least five helicopters.
Derow told AFP people had seen the French commandos
disembark in the fields.
"The Shabaab were alerted that the helicopters had
landed and that they let out soldiers, and so they [the Islamists] were able to
prepare," he added.
Senior Shabaab commander Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim confirmed to
AFP by telephone that their fighters had been alerted, but did not say how.
In Washington, President Barack Obama acknowledged that US
forces had provided limited technical support for the operation, but said they
had played no role in the fighting.
"United States combat aircraft briefly entered Somali
airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed," Obama wrote in a
letter to Congress. They had not used their weapons during the operation, he
added.
Le Drian, faced with questions at home over the failure of
the operation - the latest in a series of such fiascos - defended the decision
to approve the raid.
"It's good to talk, to look for a deal, but we cannot
bow to unreasonable conditions, as was the case with the Shabaab," the
minister told French radio Europe 1 Sunday.
Completely unrealistic
"The Shabaab were asking for the release of I don't know
how many jihadist prisoners around the world. It was strictly impossible and
completely unrealistic," he said.
But local Somalis expressed anger over the assault.
"They killed innocent civilians and left without
accomplishing anything. The people here are very disappointed in the French
government on account of the civilian victims," said Bulomarer resident
Moalim Ahmed Nur.
"We were told there were about 40 of them against more
than 100 heavily armed Shabaab fighters," said another Somali, who wished
to remain anonymous. "Their mission was impossible and not very
professional."
France has a recent history of botched operations, including
a failed joint raid with Niger forces in 2011 that left both hostages dead and
another in Mali that led to the hostage's execution.
In 2009, French commandos launched a raid to free a French
family whose yacht had been hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.
They retook the boat but accidentally shot the father dead.
