Second Strike

US forces launched another attack against what are likely Somali Islamists and al Qaeda located in Somalia. Here's hoping that they got their intended targets.

The United States launched an air strike about two weeks ago against what officials then said were al Qaeda operatives.

The target of the second strike was unclear, but some officials indicated it was likely an al Qaeda operative. They would not say which day the strike occurred but it was this week.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment.

The US also refuses to confirm or deny that they have ground forces inside Somalia tracking down the Islamists and al Qaeda.

UPDATE:
Still no word on who or what was the target of the US airstrike, but mortar shells hit the Mogadishu airport, killing two Somalis. The Islamists will take credit.

At the same time, Ethiopian forces have laid out a plan to withdraw their forces in three phases.

Meles said he expected the deployment of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) before the end of the third phase withdrawal of the Ethiopian forces.

He told a press conference that the Ethiopian forces began withdrawing from Somalia as of Tuesday.

Meles said the victory of the Ethiopian defense forces over the extremist group in Somalia without casualties on civilians showed the military capability and heroism of the defense forces.

He said the withdrawal of the Ethiopian forces from the capital Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia would successfully be completed in the coming few weeks.

Ethiopia started withdrawing its troops as the TFG forces began stabilizing the country, Meles said.

Meles said warlords and their militias have become part of the army of the TFG through peaceful ways after handing over their armaments.

(TFG is the transitional government.) While the possibility exists that the Ethiopians smashed the Islamists in Somalia to eliminate a rival and have no interest in what happens in Somalia going forward, we do.

A Somalia without a functioning government that wields the force to eliminate militias and maintain territorial integrity is one mighty fine looking piece of real estate for al Qaeda to call home. No functioning government means a breeding ground for Islamists. Ethiopia might not find that situation worrisome now, but it will be like whack-a-mole. They'll have to keep going back, instead of the more difficult and long term job of trying to make a government work there.

Nigeria, meanwhile, says that it is willing to send troops to Somalia.

A battalion of Nigerian soldiers is expected to leave for Somalia in the next two weeks to join a planned African peacekeeping force in that country, Nigeria's defence minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

The African Union has proposed sending about 8 000 peacekeepers to Somalia to bolster the interim government after Ethiopian troops complete their pull out from the chaotic country.

Defence Minister Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi said the Nigerian battalion, which normally contains between 770 and 1 000 troops, is already undergoing training and waiting for supplies and logistics to move into Somalia.