The Somali insurgent group al-Shabab is vowing to avenge a U.S.
military raid that killed one of Africa's most wanted al-Qaida suspects.
Speaking
to reporters Tuesday, senior members of al-Shabab said their fighters
will retaliate for the commando raid that killed Saleh Ali Saleh
Nabhan. They also vowed to continue their fight against Western
nations.
Witnesses say helicopters fired on a car near the
southern Somali town of Barawe Monday, killing at least two passengers
and wounding two others.
The U.S. military has confirmed
involvement in the raid and says the attack killed Nabhan. His body is
now believed to be in U.S. custody.
Nabhan was a Kenyan wanted for questioning about attacks against a hotel and an Israeli airliner in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2002.
The hotel bombing killed at least 13 people, while missiles fired at the plane missed their target.
Authorities
also believe the suspect may have been involved in the 1998 bombing of
the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi which killed 218 people, the majority of
them Kenyan.
Officials with the International Crisis Group say
the precision of Monday's helicopter strike shows the United States has
good intelligence in Somalia and was likely tracking Nabhan for a
while.
U.S. officials have been quoted as saying the operation
Monday was launched when it became clear the target was traveling in an
area away from heavy population.
The Barawe area is controlled by al-Shabab, which is fighting to topple the Somali government.
The
United States considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization, and has
accused it of having links to al-Qaida and giving refuge to terrorism
suspects.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
