US Somali air strikes 'kill many'

jlew24asu

Collin wrote:

An Islamic revivalist movement, often characterized by moral conservatism, literalism, and the attempt to implement Islamic values in all spheres of life.


In my opinion, there is a Christian right (moral conservatism), they often have a pretty literal belief of the bible e.g. creationism, miracles of Jesus and they attempt to implement Christian values in all spheres of life as well.

I could be wrong, of course, but this is how I see it. Based on that definition, I'd say searchlightsoul definitely has a point.

ok sure I see the point BUT christians do not use violence and death to implement those values like extreme islam

norm

jlew24asu wrote:

ok sure I see the point BUT christians do not use violence and death to implement those values like extreme islam

KKK?

jlew24asu

cutback wrote:

KKK?

huh? I'm no expert on the KKK but I dont think they have anything to do with christianity. even if they did, thats a bit of a stretch to use as an example. nobody cares what they say or even that they exist. its not 1880 anymore

Collin

jlew24asu wrote:

huh? I'm no expert on the KKK but I dont think they have anything to do with christianity. even if they did, thats a bit of a stretch to use as an example. nobody cares what they say or even that they exist. its not 1880 anymore

Well they are Christian.

Last Exodus

Byrnzie wrote:

Tuesday, 9 January 2007, 10:59 GMT

US Somali air strikes 'kill many'


The US is carrying out further air strikes in southern Somalia against Islamist fighters, who the US believes include members of an al-Qaeda cell.

The targets were reported to have been tracked by aerial reconnaissance and then attacked by a US gunship launched from a US military base in Djibouti.

The US says Somali Islamists sheltered al-Qaeda operatives linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa.

The Somali transitional government says many people were killed in the raid.

The air strikes took place a few days after the Union of Islamic Courts, which had taken control of much of central and southern Somalia during the past six months, was routed by soldiers from Ethiopia and Somalia's transitional government.

Location of militias and US Navy patrols
The US accused the Islamists of having links to al-Qaeda - charges they denied.

Witnesses told the BBC Somali service that the town of Afmadow was being bombed on Tuesday.

Afmadow is 250km north of Ras Kamboni, close to the Kenyan border, which was hit by air strikes on Monday afternoon.

"My 4-year-old boy was killed in the strike," Mohamed Mahmud Burale told the AP news agency from near Afmadow.

The US has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania

Somali interim president
Abdullahi Yusuf


US fears Somali 'terror' ties
Fact file: AC-130 gunship

AP says three other civilians have been killed but these reports have not been independently verified.

There has been no official confirmation from the Pentagon that the air strikes took place, but correspondents say a statement is expected within hours.

"So many dead people were lying in the area. We do not know who is who, but the raid was a success," interim government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told AFP news agency about Monday's raids.

"The target was a small village called Badel where the terrorists were hiding. And the gunship did hit on the exact target," he said, adding that Somali and Ethiopian troops were nearby.

Another village, Hayo, was also targeted.

The bombing is the first overt military action by the US in Somalia since 1994, the year after 18 US troops were killed in Mogadishu.

The attack was carried out by an Air Force AC-130, a heavily-armed gunship that has highly effective detection equipment and can work under the cover of darkness.

After fierce fighting, Ethiopian and Somali forces said on Monday that they were on the verge of capturing Ras Kamboni, one of the Islamist's last strongholds, where many fighters were dug in.

Many other Islamist fighters are in hiding across the country.

Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf backed the US action.

"The US has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania," he said in Mogadishu, a day after entering the city for the first time since the Islamists withdrew.

The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says the attack seemed to be an opportunistic attempt by the US to destroy an al-Qaeda cell that they had been tracking for some time.

HAVE YOUR SAY
"They can all leave us alone, we Somalis already have a full plate when it comes to wars"
Maheran Man, Melbourne, Australia

The cell is accused of responsibility for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and Dar Es Salaam, in Tanzania.

More than 250 people died in the two attacks.

The US also holds the same group responsible for attacks on an Israeli aircraft and Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in 2002, in which 15 people died.

Meanwhile, the US military said on Tuesday it had sent an aircraft carrier to join three other US warships conducting anti-terror operations off the country's coast.

In this country we call that....a good shot.