Bombs away over Baghdad Feb 8, 2007
The number of cannon rounds fired - some models of the AC-130 gunship, for instance, have a Gatling gun that can fire up to 1,800 rounds in a single minute - is also a closely guarded secret. The official reason given is that "Special Forces often use aircraft such as the AC-130" and since "their missions and operations are classified, so therefore these figures are not released". (Asia Times Online)
Now you see it... Feb 4, 2007
In those conflicts, low-tech and sturdy -- like the A-10 Warthog (designed to circle battlefields slowly, take fire, and protect troops) or the lumbering AC-130 gunship (deployed recently against suspected Al Qaeda terrorists in Somalia) -- can be more effective than the leading-edge planes that define the Air Force to the world, and perhaps to itself. Critics often charge that the Air Force is biased toward the high-tech planes, as opposed to workhorse machines that directly support ground... (Boston Globe)
Inside the Ring (Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough) Feb 3, 2007
For surveillance, they use several systems, including the slow-moving AC-130 gunship. The aircraft's cannons, machine guns and night-sight capability are the perfect systems for locating and killing IED-placing insurgents. (Washington Times, DC)
Stateless in Mogadishu Jan 31, 2007
The U.S. has also ruled itself out as a source of stability with two AC-130 gunship attacks this month on the remnants of the former ruling Islamic Courts Union (I.C.U.), holed up in deep forest on southern Somalia's border with Kenya. The targets of the U.S. attack were three al-Qaeda agents suspected of blowing up the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 with the loss of more than 200 lives. (Time.com)
Five Islamists Arrested At Border Jan 27, 2007
The US AC 130 gunship struck southern Somalia twice, trying to kill al-Qaeda operatives in the country. The US believes al-Qaeda militants linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam have taken refuge in Somalia. (allAfrica.com)
Kenya: 5 Islamist Fighters Arrested At Border Jan 26, 2007
The Washington Post quoted unnamed US officials as saying that a US Air Force AC-130 gunship carried out the Monday strike. In a separate development, Nigeria became the latest nation to agree to send up to 1,000 troops as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia. (allAfrica.com)
* Mortars hit Mogadishu airport Jan 26, 2007
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the strike was carried out in secret by an Air Force AC-130 gunship earlier this week, provided few details and were uncertain whether the intended target was killed. Wednesday's mortar attack in Mogadishu came as Ethiopian troops began pulling out after helping the Somali government drive a radical Islamic militia out of the capital and much of southern Somalia. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Ethiopia plays down fear of security vacuum Jan 25, 2007
Two weeks ago an AC-130 gunship attacked what Washington said were al-Qaeda agents fleeing with Islamic Courts forces defeated by Ethiopian troops. It was the first overt US action in Somalia since the end of a disastrous peacekeeping mission in 1994. (Business Day)
WORLD BRIEFS Jan 25, 2007
The officials, speaking anonymously because the strike was carried out in secret by an Air Force AC-130 gunship, provided few details and were uncertain whether the intended target was killed. The Defense Department declined to confirm a new strike but said in general the U.S. was "going to go after al-Qaida in the global war on terrorism wherever it takes us.". (Newsday -- World)
US Launches Another Air Strike In Somalia Jan 25, 2007
The officials provided few details about the strike by an Air Force AC-130 gunship. The sources are uncertain whether the intended target was killed. (KWTX.com, TX)
US flying gunship shoots up Somali targets again: report Jan 25, 2007
An AC-130 gunship like the one shown in this undated U.S. Air Force photo is reported to have struck suspected terrorist targets in southern Somalia. (Associated Press). (CBC News)
News in Brief Jan 25, 2007
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the defence officials gave few details other than that it was by an air force AC-130 gunship. One said early indications showed no "high-value target" was killed or captured. (Guardian Unlimited -- World)
U.S. Launches New Somalia Airstrike Jan 25, 2007
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the action was carried out in secret, provided few details about the strike by an Air Force AC-130 gunship earlier this week and were uncertain whether the intended target was killed. One official suggested that early indications showed that no high-value target was killed or captured. (Time.com)
US plane 'bombed Somali targets' Jan 25, 2007
An AC-130 gunship reportedly staged the strike ... The Washington Post newspaper quoted unnamed US officials as saying that a US Air Force AC-130 gunship carried out the Monday strike. (BBC News)
U.S. carries out another airstrike in Somalia Jan 25, 2007
In this most recent strike, a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked Monday overnight into Tuesday along Somalia's southern border with Kenya ... A U.S. AC-130 gunship in an undated photo. (CNN -- World)
Somalia: Ethiopian Troops Begin Pullout Jan 24, 2007
Speaking about the recent US air strike in his country, he said the US AC 130 gunship had targeted hideouts of terrorist groups. He pointed out the US overt military action in Somalia took place with the consent and coordination of the Somali transitional government. (allAfrica.com)
WP: U.S. stages 2nd airstrike in Somalia Jan 24, 2007
A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship staged an airstrike against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in southern Somalia on Monday, the second such attack this month, U.S. officials said Tuesday. There was no immediate information on specific targets or the strike's results. (Huntington WSAZ-TV, WV)
SAS hunts fleeing Africans Jan 14, 2007
Last week America showed its hand when it unleashed an airstrike from an AC-130 gunship on a Somali village where intelligence suggested the three key suspects, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, 32, Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, 38, and Abu Taha al-Sudani, were holed up. The airstrike missed the men but, according to a senior American official, the attack killed eight to 10 significant Al-Qaeda affiliates. (TimesOnline)
Gunning for Somalia Jan 14, 2007
A huge AC-130 gunship pummelled the sleepy fishing village of Ras Kamboni, near the Kenyan border, on Monday. Firing 1800 rounds a minute from a six- barrel Gatling gun, the strike obliterated everything that stood in its path. (Sunday Herald)
SOMALIA: This time, it's revenge Jan 13, 2007
It's not clear how many died when an AC-130 gunship struck ... But no one knows how many died in the hail of AC-130 gunship fire ... An AC-130 gunship of the Special Operations Command (flying out of the large U.S. base in Djibouti) struck Islamist targets last Sunday and Monday near the town of Afmadow in the bush of southern Somalia and again at Ras Kamboni, a peninsula on the border with Kenya. (Hamilton Spectator)
Grenade Attack on Mogadishu Hotel Jan 13, 2007
The United States, whose AC 130 gunship struck southern jungles of Somalia on Monday, reported yesterday that no al-Qaeda member was killed in their air strike. More than 24 people are believed to have died on Monday's air strikes. (allAfrica.com)
Amnesty Questions U.S. on Civilian Casualties [press release] Jan 13, 2007
According to a Pentagon spokesperson, a US Air Force AC-130 gunship was used in an airstrike on 7 January to target the "principal al-Qa'ida leadership" operating in the southern part of Somalia. Relevant Links. (allAfrica.com)
Attacks that run the risk of backfiring Jan 13, 2007
As Bush's AC-130 gunship showed again this week, bombing is much easier. -- Guardian News Ltd 2007Wanted al-Qaeda suspectsAbu Taha al-SudanA Sudanese national married to a Somali woman, al-Sudan is reported to be the head of al-Qaedas East Africa cell, and a close associate of Osama bin Laden. (Mail & Guardian Online)
Saving Somalia Jan 13, 2007
On Jan. 8, a U.S. AC-130 gunship struck a suspected al-Qaeda target in southern Somalia, where the U.S. believes a number of operatives, including three men accused of carrying out the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, have been hiding. On Wednesday, a Somali official said Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a top al-Qaeda official, had been killed. (Time.com)
WP: U.S. troops entered Somalia Jan 12, 2007
The air attack was carried out early Monday by a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship flying from a base in Djibouti, a tiny Horn of Africa country, as U.S. Navy ships patrolled offshore. By one official's account, the strike was triggered by a cellphone intercept and targeted a convoy of vehicles. (Huntington WSAZ-TV, WV)
Somalian targets survived, U.S. says Jan 12, 2007
The attack Sunday night by a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship killed eight to 10 people believed to be linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, the official said. Previous reports from other U.S. and Somalian sources suggested that the dead might include suspects in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, or the 2002 bombing of a Kenyan seaside resort and a subsequent missile attack against an Israeli airliner. (Los Angeles Times)
Opportunity, peril seen for U.S. in Somalia Jan 11, 2007
" Other experts questioned whether the priority for the United States in Somalia right now should be trying to hunt down suspected terrorists. "If we are able to identify al Qaeda's terrorists and act on that intelligence, that is one of the necessary elements of the so-called war on terror," said Gayle Smith, an expert on Africa at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington. "But equally as important, and probably even more important in the long term, is that we... (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Senior al-Qaeda suspect reported killed in Somalia Jan 11, 2007
At least four AC-130 gunship strikes yesterday took place around Ras Kamboni, the rugged area on the Somali coast a few kilometers from the Kenyan border where the US also attacked on Monday, a local resident who declined to give his name told two-way radio operator Doorane Adan Harere in Nairobi. On Tuesday, helicopter gunships attacked suspected al-Qaeda fighters in the south, a day after US forces staged airstrikes in the first offensive in the African country since 18 American soldiers were... (Taipei Times, Taiwan)
Embassy Row (James Morrison) Jan 11, 2007
On Monday, a U.S. AC 130 gunship pounded the suspected terrorist sites in two villages in southern Somalia, and yesterday attack helicopters followed up with additional bombing raids, according to reports out of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The Bush administration has accused the Islamist forces of sheltering al Qaeda suspects wanted in the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. (Washington Times, DC)
Al Qaeda suspect killed in Somalia strike (Salad Duhul) Jan 11, 2007
Witnesses said an AC-130 gunship attacked a suspected al Qaeda training camp. A senior Somali government official also said a small U.S. team has been providing military advice to Ethiopian and government forces on the ground. (Washington Times, DC)
Al-Qaida Chief in Somalia May Be Dead Jan 11, 2007
Witnesses said an AC-130 gunship attacked a suspected al-Qaida training camp ... He would not confirm any details of the airstrikes, conducted by at least one AC-130 gunship. (Newsmax)
Somalia President: Punish Islamist Leaders Jan 11, 2007
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters Tuesday that an AC-130 gunship attacked what he called the region's principal al-Qaida leaders on Sunday. Media reports said the attack occurred Monday. (Newsmax)
US military continues Somalia raid amid protests Jan 11, 2007
The United States carried out its first overt military action in Somalia since 1994 with a targetted air strike on Monday against suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts using an AC-130 gunship. Somali elders said at least 19 people had died in the attack. (Middle East Online)
The man who masterminded the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa has reportedly been killed in U.S. air strikes in Somalia. Jan 11, 2007
This March 2002 US Air Force (USAF) handout photo shows an Air Force AC-130 gunship on a training exercise. The United States launched air strikes on suspected Al-Qaeda targets in southern Somalia on Tuesday. (Xinhuanet, China)
US strikes Qaida camp in Somalia Jan 11, 2007
The attacks, by a heavily armed AC-130 gunship, came after the terror suspects were spotted hiding on a remote island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border, Somali officials said ... Air Force AC-130 gunships are heavily armed aircraft with elaborate sensors that can go after discreet targets - day or night. (India Times, India)
Violence engulfs Somali capital Jan 11, 2007
An American AC-130 gunship pounded the area Sunday, the first time U.S. forces have been publicly deployed in Somalia since 1994. Since June, when the Islamist movement rose to power, U.S. officials have complained that Islamist leaders were sheltering terrorists connected to the embassy bombings, which killed more than 200 people. (International Herald Tribune)
White House Confirms U.S. Military Attacks on Somalia Jan 10, 2007
Over at the Pentagon, spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed that a U.S. AC-130 gunship carried out at least one air strike overnight on Sunday and said the attacks show the nation's commitment to track down terrorists. "We're going to remain committed to reducing terrorist capabilities when and where we find them. The operation two days ago was an example of that," Whitman said, adding that the targeting "was based on credible intelligence that led us to believe that we had principal Al Qaeda... (Fox News -- Politics)
Somalia strikes mark new foray for U.S. Jan 10, 2007
In addition to the AC-130 gunship, which is armed with a 105mm howitzer that fires out the side of the aircraft as well as other guns, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was deployed off the coast of Somalia. The carrier could be called on to launch F/A-18 or other strike aircraft within range of Somalia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
U.S. launch fresh attack in south Somalia Jan 10, 2007
Officials of the transitional government said that U.S. AC-130 gunship, operated by the Special Operations Command, flew from its base in Djibouti to the southern tip of Somalia, where the al- Qaeda suspects were believed to have fled from the Somali capital of Mogadishu. "We can confirm that US gunships raided targets in a village in southern Somalia late on Monday," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said by telephone from Baidoa where the transitional government is based. (People's Daily Online, China)
Quick Guide and Transcript Jan 10, 2007
STARR: African and U.S. intelligence officials have been coordinating closely in the last many days apparently in the run-up to this AC 130 gunship strike against the Ras Kamboni terrorist camp deep in southern Somalia that was hit by the United States. The U.S. has long wanted to get many of the suspects it believes are hiding in Somalia all of them affiliated with attacks in this region, at least three of them said to be affiliated with the 1998 attack on U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and... (CNN -- Education)
Somali PM orders ex-Islamist militia to join camps, silent on US raid Jan 10, 2007
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed that an AC-130 gunship, a fixed wing plane mounted with rapid fire guns, was used to attack the "principle Al-Qaeda leadership in the region" early Monday. He left open the possibility of more attacks in the future. (Yahoo! Asia News)
U.S. strikes al-Qaida suspects Jan 10, 2007
On Monday, at least one U.S. AC-130 gunship attacked Islamic extremists in Hayi, 30 miles from Afmadow, and on a remote island 155 miles away believed to be an al-Qaida training camp at the southern tip of Somalia next to Kenya ... A U.S. government official said at least one AC-130 gunship was used Monday. (Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, AZ)
Somalia: U.S. attack targeted extremists (Mohamed Olad Hassan) Jan 10, 2007
At least one AC-130 gunship carried out an air strike yesterday evening against targets in the town about 220 miles southwest of the capital of Mogadishu, Somali officials said. It was not immediately clear how many people died in those attacks, but Somali officials said there were reports that many were killed. (Washington Times, DC)
U.S. Launches New Attacks on Al-Qaida Jan 10, 2007
But a U.S. government official said at least one AC-130 gunship was used ... AC-130 gunships have elaborate sensors that can go after targets day or night. (Newsmax)
- Simon Tisdall Jan 10, 2007
As Mr Bush's AC-130 gunship showed again this week, bombing is much easier. Advertiser links. (Guardian Unlimited)
Assault presses ahead in Somalia Jan 10, 2007
Colonel Shino Moalin Nur, a Somali military commander, said by telephone late yesterday that at least one US AC-130 gunship attacked a suspected Al Qaeda training camp Sunday on a remote island at the southern tip of Somalia next to Kenya. Somali officials said they had reports of many deaths. (Boston Globe)
US uses Somalia events to press Qaeda Jan 10, 2007
The substantial US military presence became evident Monday when a US AC-130 gunship attacked suspected extremists in Hayi , in southern Somalia ... Analysts said that the use of an AC-130 gunship -- a short-range aircraft operated largely by Special Forces -- signaled that US forces had moved a detachment into nearby Ethiopia or Somalia itself. (Boston Globe)
U.S. cites intelligence in Somalia strike Jan 10, 2007
Bryan Whitman would not confirm any of the details of the strike, which was conducted by at least one AC-130 gunship yesterday in southern Somalia, and he would not say whether the attack killed any specific members of al Qaeda ... The military typically declines to reveal much about such missions by special operations forces, including the AC-130 gunships used in the Somalia attack, and Delta Force counterterrorism ground troops. (Washington Times, DC)
US Returns To Somalia In Strike Against Al-Qaeda Jan 10, 2007
CBS News reported that an AC-130 gunship flying from Djibouti struck an area where members of al-Qaeda were hiding. The Washington Post reported that the chief of staff for Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi confirmed the reports of the attack and that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, believed responsible for the 1998 embassy attacks, had been killed. (Playfuls.com)
U.S. targets al Qaeda in Somalia air strike Jan 10, 2007
The Pentagon confirmed yesterday that an AC-130 gunship attacked terror suspects in southern Somalia on Monday. The targets were thought to be al Qaeda operatives who carried out the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa. (Washington Times)
U.S. attacks "al-Qaeda target" in Somalia Jan 10, 2007
This March 2002 US Air Force (USAF) handout photo shows an Air Force AC-130 gunship on a training exercise ... Officials of the transitional government said that U.S. AC-130 gunship, operated by the Special Operations Command, flew from its base in Djibouti to the southern tip of Somalia, where the al-Qaeda suspects were believed to have fled from the Somali capital of Mogadishu. (Xinhuanet, China)
U.S. joins in attacks Jan 10, 2007
Whitman would not confirm any details of the strike, which was conducted by at least one AC-130 gunship early Monday local time in southern Somalia, late Sunday EST. He would not say whether the attack successfully killed any specific members of al-Qaida. The assault was based on intelligence hat led us to believe we had principal al-Qaida leaders in an area where we could identify them and take action against them, said Whitman. (Boulder Colorado Daily, CO)
New attacks launched in Somalia Jan 10, 2007
Late Tuesday Col. Shino Moalin Nur, a Somali military commander, told the AP by telephone that at least one U.S. AC-130 gunship attacked a suspected al-Qaeda training camp Sunday on a remote island at the southern tip of Somalia ... Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday that the U.S. military assault had been based on intelligence "that led us to believe we had principal al-Qaeda leaders in an area where we could identify them and take action against them." He would not confirm any... (USA Today)
* US airstrikes in Somalia target bomber suspects Jan 10, 2007
The attacks, by an AC-130 gunship, came after the terror suspects were spotted hiding on a remote island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border, Somali officials said. The island and a site 250km north were hit. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Airstrike rekindles Somalis' anger at the United States Jan 10, 2007
On Sunday, an American AC-130 gunship pounded the area around Ras Kamboni, and also a location father north where American officials said three ringleaders of the bombings in 1998 of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were hiding. Somali officials said those bombings had been planned in Ras Kamboni after a local Somali terrorist outfit invited Al Qaeda to use the village as a base. (International Herald Tribune)
Twin aimsThe US targets Islamists and al-Qaeda suspects in Somalia Jan 10, 2007
The air strikes were carried out by a huge AC-130 gunship in the south of the country where supporters of the Union of Islamic Courts have retreated under attack from the Ethiopian army and soldiers of the transitional government. US aircraft have carried out reconnaissance flights over Somalia and it is believed that the US provided Ethiopian forces with intelligence support during the recent offensive. (BBC News -- Americas)
US 'targets al-Qaeda' in Somalia Jan 10, 2007
The US used AC-130 gunship in raids over Somalia. US air strikes in Somalia are aimed at al-Qaeda leaders in the region, and based on "credible intelligence", a Pentagon spokesman has said. (BBC News)
Many dead from US strike in Somalia Jan 9, 2007
The attacks, by a heavily armed AC-130 gunship, came after the terror suspects were spotted hiding on a remote island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border, Somali officials said. It is the first overt military action by the US in Somalia since the 1990s and the legacy of a botched intervention - known as "Black Hawk Down" - that left 18 US servicemen dead. (The Age)
A strike against al-Qaida Jan 9, 2007
January 9, 2007, 12:06 AM EST WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Navy AC-130 gunship attacked suspected al-Qaida members inside Somalia, government officials said yesterday. Under cover of Ethiopia's move into Somalia to help rout Islamist forces in recent weeks, U.S. officials have mounted an intensive effort to capture or kill key suspects of the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania more than eight years ago that killed 224 people. (Newsday)
US strikes at al-Qaida Jan 9, 2007
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked suspected al-Qaida members in southern Somalia, and U.S. sources said Monday the operation may have hit a senior terrorist figure. The strike took place near the Kenyan border, according to a senior officer at the Pentagon. (DetNews.com)
U.S. gunship attacks targets in Somalia: report Jan 9, 2007
An AC-130 gunship flew its mission within the last 24 hours, CNN quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying ... The AC-130 gunship, operated by the Special Operations Command, flew from its base in Djibouti to the southern tip of Somalia, where the al-Qaida suspects were believed to be operating. (People's Daily Online, China)
A strike against al-Qaida Jan 9, 2007
January 9, 2007 WASHINGTON - A U.S. Navy AC-130 gunship attacked suspected al-Qaida members inside Somalia, government officials said yesterday. Under cover of Ethiopia's move into Somalia to help rout Islamist forces in recent weeks, U.S. officials have mounted an intensive effort to capture or kill key suspects of the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania more than eight years ago that killed 224 people. (Newsday -- World)
US air raid targets Al-Qaeda hideout in Somalia Jan 9, 2007
US television reports said the raid was carried out by an AC-130 gunship, operated by the US Special Operations Command and which flew from its base in neighboring Djibouti. ADVERTISEMENT. (Yahoo! Asia News)
U.S. airstrike targets al-Qaida Jan 9, 2007
The attacks, by a heavily armed AC-130 gunship, came after the terror suspects were spotted hiding on a remote island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border, Somali officials said. "The U.S. were trying to kill the al-Qaida terrorists who carried out the bomb attacks on their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania," Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told The Associated Press. (MSNBC -- International)
Somali president arrives in capital as interim government tries to establish control Jan 9, 2007
In Washington, a government official confirmed that the U.S. military launched a strike against several suspected members of al-Qaida in Somalia, using at least one AC-130 gunship. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. (Leesville Daily Leader, LA)
