Ethiopia's PM says only one U.S. strike on Somalia
Source: Reuters
(Adds more quotes, byline, picture) By Tsegaye Tadesse ADDIS ABABA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday the United States had struck only once in Somalia and denied reports that civilians had been killed in the air attack. "There was only one strike. That strike was against what they called the target of opportunity," Meles told a news conference in Addis Ababa, referring to al Qaeda suspects thought to be in Somalia. "I believe they did not miss the target." Meles said the strike had killed eight militants and five others were captured. He could not confirm rumours that specific al Qaeda members had been killed. "The remains will be transported for tests, and until this is done, I cannot confirm." Somali government sources have said there have been further air strikes in Somalia, but U.S. officials said the United States had not conducted any such attacks since Monday. Somali officials said many people died in Monday's strike, the first overt U.S. military action in Somalia since a disastrous humanitarian mission ended in 1994. "Our troops went to the area ... and they have assured me that no civilians were killed," Meles said. U.S. officials said Monday's strike targeted an al Qaeda cell that includes suspects in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2002 attack on an Israeli-owned Kenyan hotel. Ethiopia sent thousands of troops across the border last month to oust Islamists who had held sway over most of southern Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, for six months and threatened to overrun the weak government in its base of Baidoa. Meles said Ethiopia wanted to pull out its troops as soon as possible and make way for African peacekeepers. He said so far no Ethiopian soldier had been killed or wounded in Mogadishu. He dismissed the view of some analysts that Somalia could experience a guerrilla insurgency. "Analysts prefer to equate Somalia's situation in the direction of Iraq and Afghanistan. Every little incident is considered by them as a repeat of Iraq syndrome," he said. "Those who are seeking out such signals will seek out in vain because the situation in Somalia is different."
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