US confirms 2nd Somali air raid: Africa: News: News24

US confirms 2nd Somali air raid: Africa: News: News24: "US confirms 2nd Somali air raid 25/01/2007 07:29 - (SA) US launches 2nd air raids EU slams Somali air raids US launches air raids in Somalia Mogadishu - The United States has conducted a second air strike in Somalia, say American officials as the top US envoy in East Africa met an ousted Islamist leader to press for reconciliation with the government. The new air strike came two weeks after an AC-130 plane killed what Washington said were eight al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters hiding among Islamist remnants pushed to Somali's southern tip by Ethiopian and Somali government forces. One official said the targets this week were from the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC), a militant group defeated by the government troops with Ethiopian military backing in a two-week war started before Christmas. A second source said the target was an al-Qaeda operative. Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman said: 'We're going to go after al-Qaeda and the global war on terror, wherever it takes us.' Islamists 'protect al-Qaeda members' State department spokesperson Sean McCormack said: 'Certainly, al-Qaeda elements pose a threat not only to the US, but they pose a threat to the stability of Somalia, as well.' Washington believed Somali Islamists had protected al-Qaeda members accused of bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and an Israeli-owned Kenya hotel in 2002. On Wednesday, US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger met SICC leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who was being held by Kenyan intelligence in a Nairobi hotel. Officials said Washington wanted to encourage dialogue and co-operation betwee"