Abdalle Ahmed in Mogadishu, Spencer Ackerman in Washington
and  David Smith in Johannesburg
As a mother of young children, Fadumo Sheikh is used to rising early. Last Saturday she was due to prepare their breakfasts before they went to the local madrasa. But the day started earlier than ever when, at around 2am, she was woken by the sound of sporadic gunfire.

Within sight of Sheikh’s home in Barawe, Somalia, crack American navy Seals had launched a lightning amphibious assault on the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. Less an hour later they would be forced to retreat, their mission far from accomplished. Based on interviews with witnesses and members of al-Shabaab, as well as official statements and media reports, the Guardian can present the most comprehensive picture yet of the daring pre-dawn raid – and where it went wrong.

The Americans’ target was an innocuous two-storey beachside house in Barawe, a fishing town of about 200,000 people that was a crucial slave trade port in the colonial era. In particular, they had planned the delicate operation of capturing, not killing, Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, a Kenyan of Somali origin and senior commander of al-Shabaab who was linked to a number of terrorist plots.

The house, about 200 metres from the sea on the town’s east side, is understood to be used by foreign extremists who have gone to Somalia to take up al-Shabaab’s cause. The group’s presence there was not news to Sheikh.

“I live in a house near the beach and I used to see the house every day. There were so many al-Shabaab fighters entering and coming out,” she said. “I usually see them going back and forth but I had never thought that so important a person was living inside the house.”

Early morning gunfire was unusual, Sheikh continued, except when al-Shabaab was conducting training exercises. “I raised my ears and I continued to hear the gunfire growing. I had no feeling or thought of such an attack from the Americans. I looked at my watch about 30 minutes later and heard one explosion and then, a few minutes later, another explosion occurred, like boom!”

What had been invisible to Sheikh and other residents of Barawe was the stealthy advance of navy Seal team six – the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan – in a speedboat towards the Somalian coastline before first light. The team consisted of about 20 Seals, according to leaked accounts, and their craft was flanked on the Indian Ocean by three small boats to provide back-up.

‘They looked like three big cows’

The Seals swept ashore, but not everyone in Barawe was asleep in those chilly early morning hours. Abdurahman Yarow, a longtime resident of the town, recalled: “I was wrapping my turban on my neck and head to protect against the cold and heading to the mosque. When I had nearly entered it, I heard a sound behind me. I saw what looked like three big cows going towards the north of the mosque – it was dark so I could not identify well what they were.

“After only 10 minutes I heard the first guns – that is, when the gun battle occurred between al-Shabaab fighters in the house and the US forces. I now understand the big cows I saw in the night were the American special forces with their military bags on their backs going in the direction of the house they targeted.”

The Seals took up positions inside the house’s compound, according to a report by NBC, which continued: “Then a lone al-Shabaab fighter walked out into plain view, smoked a cigarette, and went back inside, one source familiar with the details of the raid said. The fighter played it cool, and gave no indication that he had spotted the Seals. But he came back out shooting, firing rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle.”

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Source: theguardian.com