 Residents in Afmadow town described two attacks from the air happening nearby, but there is no word on casualties. This follows air raids earlier this week by US forces who said they were targeting suspected al-Qaeda leaders. The United Nations Security Council is set to meet to consider moves to send African peacekeepers into Somalia. The initiative was agreed before the Islamic Courts militia were ousted by Ethiopia-backed government forces. UN officials fear the US actions may complicate peacekeeping efforts and the new UN chief has expressed concern. There has been considerable criticism of the US, which on Sunday carried out its first overt military action in Somalia since 1994. Somali officials say many civilians died. The US has long said al-Qaeda suspects linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa took refuge in Somalia. It also accuses the Islamists of having links to al-Qaeda - charges they deny. The Somali government, which has been fighting the Islamists, defended the US strike. Last month, the UN Security Council authorised an African peacekeeping force to protect the transitional government against the Union of Islamic Courts. They had taken control of much of central and southern Somalia over the past six months, before being routed from the capital, Mogadishu, and driven south by government and Ethiopian forces. The UK Foreign Office is currently investigating reports that Britons are among those killed in the fighting after Somali officials said they had found a variety of international passports on the bodies of dead Islamist fighters. 'Hiding out' UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he regretted the reported loss of civilian lives in the US attack. UN spokesman Farhan Haq told the BBC that Mr Ban was "concerned about the new dimension that this kind of action could introduce to the conflict, and the possible escalation of hostilities that may result". Air raids were reported near the town of Afmadow on Monday and Tuesday, but it is not clear if these were carried out by the US, or by Ethiopian forces. Correspondents say the situation on the ground in southern Somalia remains very unclear, with communications in the area poor. The Islamist fighters are hiding in densely wooded areas close to the Kenyan border in the southern tip of Somalia. Somalia's interim deputy prime minister, Hussein Aideed, said the US action was necessary precisely because of their location. "This is [the] south of the country, and it is a no man's land... it is forest. It's not easy to move in with military vehicles," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. Meanwhile, President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed said the US had the right to bomb those who had attacked its embassies. More than 250 people died in the 1998 attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, for which al-Qaeda claimed responsibility. The US also holds the same cell responsible for attacks on an Israeli aircraft and Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in 2002, in which 15 people died. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6247111.stm Published: 2007/01/10 10:54:16 GMT © BBC MMVII |