US denies Somali incursion
2005-05-06 14:25
Special Report
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Nairobi - The commander of the sole US military base in Africa on Friday vehemently denied a widely circulated report that US Marines had landed on the Somali coast this week seeking suspected terrorists.
Major General Samuel Helland, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa, said the report had confused a training operation off the coast of neighbouring Djibouti last month for a militant hunt.
"It's a fabrication of the exercise off the coast of Djibouti," said the Djibouti-based general, attending the inauguration of a new Marine housing compound at the US embassy in Nairobi.
"To my knowledge there has been no Marine activity off the coast of Somalia other than the 5th Fleet ships sailing by on their way to Iraq," Helland said, adding: "There were no Marines ashore (in Somalia)."
Thursday's report from Hergeisa, the capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland in the northwest of the lawless nation, said about 20 lightly armed US Marines had landed in a fishing village on Tuesday and showed photographs of suspected militants to residents.
It also said three US vessels, including a helicopter carrier, were seen the same day at a port in Somaliland, which has declared its independence from Somalia properly, but is internationally unrecognized.
Helland said with the exception of the location the description of events corresponded to a training exercise conducted off the coast of Djibouti in the last week of April by the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).
"At that time, elements of the 26th MEU came ashore and conducted live-fire exercises and did an amphibious assault across the beaches in Djibouti as well," he said.
"The story appears to cover what the exercise was and that's all it was," Helland said, referring reporters to his command's website where an account of the operation entitled "26th MEU storms Djiboutian shores" is posted.
He said the confusion may have arisen because of the often indistinguishable border between Djibouti and the Somaliland portion of Somalia but could not account for the discrepancy in timing.
The Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa was set up in Djibouti in 2002 as part of US efforts to fight terrorism following the September 11 2001 attacks.
Helland assumed command of the task force in May 2004.
- AFP