Raid carried out as Kenya’s military confirms the names of four al-Shabaab fighters implicated in Westgate mall attack
Peter Beaumont
Foreign military forces were reported on Saturday to have carried out a raid on a southern Somalian coastal town, apparently in pursuit of “a high-profile target” linked to the militant al-Shabaab group, which was behind last month’s Kenyan mall shootings.
Although accounts were contradictory, what seems clear from eyewitness accounts and descriptions of the raid – including by a spokesman for al-Shabaab – was that a group of “white soldiers” launched an attack from small boats, reportedly supported by a helicopter and naval gunfire, in the pre-dawn darkness.
Claims by an al-Shabaab spokesman that the raid involved UK and Turkish special forces and that a British commando had been killed were denied by a UK official: “To the best of our knowledge, no British forces were involved in this.” Asked about the raid, however, a Pentagon spokesman, George Little, said: “I decline comment.”
The raid hit a two-storey house close to the beach in the town of Barawe, an al-Shabaab stronghold, in the lower Shabelle region, some 150 miles south of Mogadishu. It is the same town where US navy commandos killed a senior al-Qaida member four years ago.
Other reports spoke of two boats landing on a nearby beach and the assailants using silenced weapons. Although Nato, the French military and the EU’s anti-piracy force denied launching the raid, suspicion fell on US Navy Seals. Somali officials, speaking anonymously, said that the target of the raid was a high-profile foreign leader in al-Shabaab, with one source identifying him as a Chechen.
The raid came as Kenya‘s military confirmed the names of four al-Shabaab fighters implicated in the Westgate mall attack. Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the men were Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene and Umayr – names that were first broadcast by a local Kenyan television station. “I confirm those are the names of the terrorist,” he said in a tweet to the Associated Press.
Publication of the identities supports CCTV footage from the Nairobi mall published by a private TV station that shows no more than four attackers, contradicting earlier government statements that between 10 to 15 attackers were involved.
They are seen calmly walking through a storeroom inside the complex, holding machine guns. One of the men’s legs appears to be stained with blood, although he is not limping, and it is unclear if the blood is his.
Reporting the attack in Barawe, Radio Shabelle, in Mogadishu, reported that one al-Shabaab fighter had been killed and others were injured. Somali security officials gave partly conflicting accounts.
“We understand that French troops injured Abu Diyad, also known as Abu Ciyad, an al-Shabaab leader from Chechnya. They killed his main guard, who was also a foreigner. The main target was the al-Shabaab leader from Chechnya,” an intelligence officer based in Mogadishu, who gave his name as Mohamed, told Reuters.
Earlier, the French army said that it was not involved in the raid.
A second Somali intelligence officer said the Barawe attack had been carried out by US forces. He confirmed the target was a foreign national, and said that another foreigner was wounded. Colonel Abdikadir Mohamed, a senior police officer in Mogadishu, said he believed the attacking troops were American and their target was a senior foreign al-Shabaab official.
Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, a spokesman for al-Shabaab’s military operations, told Reuters: “Westerners in boats attacked our base at Barawe beach and one was martyred from our side. No planes or helicopters took part in the fight. The attackers left weapons, medicine and stains of blood. We chased them.”
Following the raid al-Shabaab trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns were reported to be patrolling in the town.
There was immediate speculation that the target was the leader of al-Shabaab, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Ahmed Godane, who claimed responsibility for the four-day assault on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi two weeks ago. Godane said the Nairobi attack, which left at least 67 people dead, was in retaliation for Kenya’s military deployment inside Somalia.
Other reports continued to suggest the target of the Somalia attack might have been a Chechen described as a senior leader in al-Shabaab.
Source: The Guardian
