US special forces hunting ‘high-profile target’ kill 10 extremists in Somalia, officials say

Hoping to capture a high-profile target, US special forces hopped off helicopters a couple of kilometres from an al-Shabab-controlled town, slipped through the dark and then got into a fierce firefight that reportedly killed more than 10 Islamic extremists.

A Somali intelligence official said the person they wanted to get was apparently killed during the fight.

“It was a high-profile target, and chances of capture were challenged by a stiff resistance by militants guarding the house targeted by the special forces, which forced the commando to resort to the kill or capture method,” the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press on the matter.

Another Somali intelligence official provided a similar account . The exact target of the raid, if any, remains unclear.

The US forces were serving in an advisory role and provided the helicopter transportation for the mission, said Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The US forces accompanied the Somali troops on the mission, but did not “go all the way to the objective,” he said.

The spokesman for the US Africa Command, Colonel Mark Cheadle, said the US forces got out of the aircraft but “stayed in a safe area to observe the actions on the objective.”