U.S. exploits Somalia chaos

Defense Department hopes strong presence in area will press campaign against al-Qaida


By JOHN DONNELLY, Boston Globe
First published: Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The Defense Department also has positioned several warships -- including an aircraft carrier -- along the coast to try to prevent escapes by sea. The strong deployment of military assets could indicate more involvement in Somalia in the future.

Opening a new front in the battle against al-Qaida, the Defense Department hopes to capitalize on a rare opportunity in fractured Somalia to try to track down Islamic militants who were harbored by the radical government until Ethiopia, a U.S. ally, intervened last month and helped rout the Islamist Somali regime.

~snip~

But the U.S. operation was much broader than a hunt for those three people, officials said in Washington. U.S. troops also were after several other radical Somali Islamist leaders, and also were trying to determine whether many other Islamist fighters had entered Somalia from elsewhere in the Middle East in recent months to support the Islamist government that had consolidated its authority in recent months.

~snip~

A U.S. military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that U.S. Special Forces accompanied Ethiopian troops into Somalia roughly two weeks ago.

Analysts said U.S. forces were seeking to take advantage of a windfall opportunity.

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