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US sends air carrier to Somalia
09/01/2007 10:03 - (SA)
Dubai - The United States military has sent an aircraft carrier to join three other American warships conducting anti-terror operations off the coast of Somalia, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet has announced.
The Navy said the development placed US warplanes directly off the coast of the country in case "the situation should require air power".
The announcement came after US warplanes launched a strike against several suspected members of al-Qaeda in Somalia on Monday.
Soldiers loyal to Somalia's United Nations-backed government and Ethiopia's military late last month drove out a radical Islamic group that had been in control of the country for six months.
According to the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet: "Due to rapidly developing events in Somalia", the US Central Command sent the carrier, USS Dwight D Eisenhower, from the Arabian Sea to the Indian Ocean coastal waters of Somalia.
Eisenhower carries H-60 helicopters
Lieutenant Charlie Brown said the Eisenhower would join the guided missile cruisers USS Bunker Hill and USS Anzio and the amphibious landing ship USS Ashland, which were already stationed off the Somali coast.
Brown said the four warships fell under command of US Rear Adm Al Myers, aboard the Eisenhower, and were not under part of the multinational task force conducting anti-piracy and anti-terrorism operations in the region.
US warships had been seeking to capture al-Qaeda members thought to be fleeing Somalia in the wake of Ethiopia's December invasion.
According to Brown, the Eisenhower was sent from the Arabian sea, where its compliment of F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers and EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft had been operating over Afghanistan. The Eisenhower also carried H-60 helicopters.
The Navy said: "The addition of Eisenhower to Navy ships already operating in international waters off the coast of Somalia is a prudent step that enhances the (maritime security operations) capabilities that are being employed to deter individuals with links to al-Qaeda."
According to the Navy, the Eisenhower's air wing's capabilities included command and control, surveillance and reconnaissance, aerial refuelling, and precision bombing "that can support emergent contingency operations if the situation should require air power".
- AP
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