US team visits air strike site
2007-01-12 10:10
Washington - A small United States military team visited the site of Monday's US air strike in southern Somalia to try to determine the identity of those killed, said reports on Friday.
The visit was the first known case of US soldiers on the ground in Somalia since the 1994 mission that killed 18 American soldiers in Mogadishu and was immortalised in the Black Hawk Down movie.
According to reports, it was unknown if the team was still in Somalia, citing US sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
A senior US official said on Thursday in Nairobi that the Monday air strike killed "eight to 10" alleged al-Qaeda affiliates, but none of the three top militants sought by America in the lawless nation.
It was reported that a piece of bloody clothing and a document found at the site suggested that Aden Ayrow, head of the military arm of the deposed Islamic Courts movement, had been at the scene.
The Pentagon had said the operation was prompted by "credible intelligence" that the "principal al-Qaeda leadership" in east Africa was in the area that was hit by an AC-130 gunship, a fixed-wing aircraft with rapid firing guns.
- AFP