US Navy SEALS who carried out a daring operation in Somalia to capture a top commander of al-Qaeda linked group al-Shabaab, were unsuccessful in their bid, the Pentagon has acknowledged.
Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, known as 'Ikrima', a Kenyan of Somali origin is closely associated with now-deceased al-Qaeda operatives Harun Fazul and Saleh Nabhan, who played roles in the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi and in the 2002 attacks on a hotel and airline in Mombassa, that resulted in the deaths of Kenyan and Israeli citizens.
US Navy SEALS on Friday carried out an unsuccessful bid to capture Ikrima.
"The goal of the operation was to capture Ikrima under legal authorities granted to the Department of Defence by the Authorisation to Use Military Force (2001) against al-Qaeda and its associated forces," the Pentagon Press Secretary, George Little, said yesterday.
"While the operation did not result in Ikrima's capture, US military personnel conducted the operation with unparallelled precision and demonstrated that the United States can put direct pressure on al-Shabaab leadership at any time of our choosing," he said.
Working in partnership with the Somalian Government, the US military will continue to confront the threat posed by al-Shabaab, Little said.
It is understood that the Navy SEALS pulled out from the raid when it became apparent to them that they would not be able to capture the terrorist commander and that they were under heavy fire from the opponents.
"Their mission was to capture him. Once it became clear we were not going to (be) able to take him, the Navy commander made the decision to withdraw," an official, having direct knowledge of the entire Somalia operation was quoted as saying by the CNN.
Presence of children in the compound was another reason for the Navy SEALS to abort its mission, another US official told CNN.
The operation to capture Ikrima was carried out the same day when in another operation in Libya, US forces captured Abu Anas al-Libi, an al Qaeda kingpin.
"The President approved both operations in Libya and Somalia," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday.
"I think it's important to note that although it occurred at the same time, these were separate operations, approved separately," he added.
The State Department spokesperson, Marie Harf said, "The United States doesn't forget when its citizens are killed, injured, targeted by terrorists, even sometimes when it takes a while, because these are tough targets to find, that we don't forget, and we will continue to pursue justice and to take terrorists who've harmed Americans off the battlefield,"
Harf refuted reports that the US has violated the sovereignty of Libya.
"No, we don't... Libya is a partner in fighting shared challenges like the terrorist threat that men like this represent," she said, but refrained to give details of US's communication with Libya.
