|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2546108,00.html
SAS Hunts Fleeing Al-Qaeda Africans
[Sunday Times-UK] Hala Jaber and Michael Smith - An SAS team is hunting down al-Qaeda terror suspects as they try to flee Somalia, trapped between invading Ethiopian troops - assisted by U.S. special forces and American mercenaries - and the Kenyan army and SAS troops acting as "training advisers," but who have been leading operations along the border, providing a "screen" to trap terrorists. Three key suspects, believed to be responsible for the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, were still on the run Saturday. The dramatic victory by Ethiopian troops was the culmination of months of preparation inside and outside Somalia by American and British special forces, and U.S.-hired mercenaries. According to a CIA source, American intelligence and military have been bankrolling the Ethiopians since the start of last year, as well as providing them with satellite surveillance, technical, military and logistical support. Kenyan counter-terrorism police said the wives and three children of two of the al-Qaeda main suspects were caught as they attempted to cross into Kenya.