In two operations in Africa nearly 3,000 miles apart, US military forces went after two high-value targets over the weekend, CNN reports.
One operation took place early Saturday
in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, when US forces captured Abu Anas al
Libi, an al Qaeda operative wanted for his role in the deadly 1998
bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
In the second raid, a team of US Navy
SEALs in southern Somalia targeted the top leader of Al-Shabaab, a
terrorist group linked with al Qaeda.
As al Libi was returning to his house
from morning prayers, a group of 10 men surprised him, a person who
knows al Libi’s family said.
Citing al Libi’s wife, Noman Benotman told CNN
that the al Qaeda operative tried to reach into his car’s glove
compartment to grab his gun — but the men quickly snatched him. A source
close to Libyan intelligence said the 10 men were masked.
The Saturday operation was conducted
with the knowledge of the Libyan government, said one US official. The
Pentagon said the US military was holding al Libi in a “secure location”
outside Libya.
He will be taken to New York on Sunday, a source with knowledge of the capture and proceedings told CNN.
The Libyan interim government, however,
called the capture a kidnapping and has requested an explanation from
Washington about the raid, the country’s state news agency reported
Sunday. Libya emphasised its citizens should be tried in Libya if they
are facing charges, LANA reported.
In the Somalia raid, the SEALs came
under fire and withdrew before they could confirm whether they killed
their target, a senior US official said.
An administration official told CNN on Sunday that members of SEAL Team Six, the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, led the raid.
“One (mission) could have gone without the other,” said retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a CNN
military analyst, about the two missions. “But the fact that they did
them both, I think, is a real signal that the United States – no matter
how long it takes – will go after these targets.”
The operations were carried out even as
polls show Americans are skittish about US military involvement in
overseas conflicts. This means, Francona said, that others who might be
in the US government’s cross hairs could have more reason to worry.
Speaking to reporters at the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali, Indonesia, US
Secretary of State John Kerry said the raids ought to make clear that
the United States “will never stop in its effort to hold those
accountable who conduct acts of terror.”
“Those members of al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations literally can run,” he said, “but they can’t hide.”
Al Libi, 49, has been on the radar for
years. He was on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, with a $5m
reward offered for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
He is alleged to have played a key role
in the August 7, 1998, bombings of American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya,
and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. More than 200 people were killed and
another 5,000 wounded in the Kenya attack; 11 died in the Tanzania
incident.
Al Libi has been indicted on charges of
conspiracy to kill US nationals, murder, destruction of American
buildings and government property, and destruction of national defense
utilities of the United States.
As early as December 2010, Libyan
authorities told a United Nations committee that al Libi was living
there, even providing a Tripoli address for him.
US officials wanted al Libi to face trial in an American court.
But, counterterrorism analysts told CNN,
he may not have been apprehended at the time because of the delicate
security situation in much of Libya. There, ex-jihadists – especially
those who once belonged to the Libyan Islamic Fighters Group – held
considerable sway after the ouster of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.
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