At least eight foreign and an unspecified number of Somali Islamic militants were killed in fighting with Somali government forces and during bombardment from a U.S. warship on a remote, mountainous northeastern area, officials said Sunday.Those foreign fighters include al Qaeda terrorists who have made Somalia a base of operations from which they can recruit jihadis and plan operations elsewhere in Africa and against the Middle East.
The fight against Islamic militants in Somalia has moved to the relatively peaceful northeast of the country. Somali government forces and their allies have previously fought the militants only in the country's south.
"Foreign fighters, Somali militants and members of the international terrorists including British nationals, Americans, Swedish, Pakistanis and Yemenis were killed in separate operations carried out by Puntland troops and U.S. navy forces," said a Sunday statement by the government of the semiautonomous northeastern region of Puntland.
UPDATE:
Al Qaeda isn't going to go down without a fight - or at least inflict serious damage to the Somali government. They tried a suicide car bomb attack against the Somali Prime Minister.
A suicide car bomber drove through a roadblock guarding the home of the Somali prime minister on Sunday and rammed the vehicle into a wall. Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was whisked to safety, officials said, but at least five people were killed in the explosion.
The deputy defense minister blamed the assassination attempt on "terrorists linked to al-Qaida."
"They planned to kill the prime minister," Salad Ali Jelle told The Associated Press. "He is alive. And now he is in safe place."
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