[FULL] US Special Forces Raids Target Islamic Al-Qaida And Al-Shabaab Militants in Libya And Somalia [FULL] US Special Forces Raids Target Islamic Al-Qaida And Al-Shabaab Militants in Libya And Somalia [FULL] US Special Forces Raids Target Islamic Al-Qaida And Al-Shabaab Militants in Libya And Somalia Senior al-Qaida commander accused of orchestrating 1998 US embassy bombings is captured in Tripoli. US special forces have carried out raids in Libya and Somalia targeting Islamic militants. The US captured a senior al-Qaida member in Tripoli and launched a dawn raid on the southern Somali hideout of one of the heads of al-Shabaab, the group behind the Kenyan mall attack, but its forces were forced to withdraw, the Pentagon said. US officials confirmed that forces operating in Libya had managed to capture Abu Anas al-Liby, accused of orchestrating the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. His apprehension ended a 15-year manhunt. In a simultaneous raid, a Navy Seal team attacked a compound in the southern Somalian coastal town of Baware, believed to be a staging post for foreign operations by the al-Shabaab militant group. They were forced to withdraw from the subsequent gun battle before they could confirm whether their unnamed target -- thought to be one of the group's senior figures -- had been killed. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, confirmed the capture of the al-Qaida militant, born Nazih al-Ragye, and said: "Those members of al-Qaida and other terrorist organisations literally can run but they can't hide." Speaking on Sunday in Indonesia, before an Asia-Pacific summit, he added: "We hope this makes clear that the United States of America will never stop in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror. We will continue to try to bring people to justice in an appropriate way with hopes that ultimately these kinds of activities against everybody in the world will stop." Liby, a Libyan believed to be 49, was indicted in New York in 2000 for his alleged role in the bombings two years earlier, which killed 224 people. The FBI had a $5m (£3.12m) bounty on his head under the US state department's Rewards for Justice programme. "As the result of a US counter-terrorism operation, Abu Anas al-Liby is currently lawfully detained by the US military in a secure location outside of Libya," the Pentagon spokesman George Little said. According to the Associated Press, witnesses and Libyan militant sources said the raid in Tripoli came after morning prayers. "As I was opening my house door, I saw a group of cars coming quickly from the direction of the house where Ragye lives. I was shocked by this movement in the early morning," said one of his neighbours, who did not give his name. "They kidnapped him. We do not know who they are." The agency said two Islamist sources had confirmed the details and Liby's brother Nabih had said three vehicles full of armed men had approached Liby's home and surrounded him as he parked his car. He claimed the men smashed Liby's window, seized his gun and sped away with him. The US said it had informed the Libyan government and received its support in the operation. But the Libyan administration denied this, saying it had never helped US forces in the country. The Pentagon confirmed US military personnel had been involved in an operation against what it called "a known al-Shabaab terrorist" in Somalia. Local people in Barawe and Somali security officials said troops came ashore from the Indian Ocean to attack a house near the shore used by al-Shabaab fighters. The Associated Press quoted a US security source as saying the Somali raid was carried out by members of the same Navy Seal team that killed the al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden. The senior US military official said the team had encountered fierce resistance and, after a 15- to 20-minute gun battle, the unit leader had decided to abort the mission and they swam away.

• published: 06 Oct 2013
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