WASHINGTON - A US missile strike in Somalia on Monday targeted a Kenyan linked to a key suspect in the bombings of two US embassies in Africa in 1998, officials said yesterday.
The Navy was going after Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan when it launched at least two Tomahawk missiles from a submarine off the coast of the East African nation, a Pentagon and FBI official said.
"Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan is . . . wanted by the FBI for questioning in connection with the 2002 attacks at the Paradise Hotel and the unsuccessful surface-to-air missile attack against an Israeli airliner in Kenya," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko.
"He is also thought to be an associate of Al Qaeda member Harun Fazul, who was indicted for the 1998 embassy bombings," Kolko said. He referred to the simultaneous bombings of the embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in which more than 200 people were killed.
Kolko said he could not confirm whether Nabhan was hit in the strike in Dobley and referred questions to the Defense Department. The Pentagon official said he did not know whether the attack succeeded. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
Residents and police in Dobley said at least eight people were seriously injured.
US officials had said Monday that the missile attack was aimed at a "known Al Qaeda terrorist" but declined to name him. Officials have said for several years that ungoverned areas of Africa attract terrorist groups.
Hundreds of people shouted anti-American slogans yesterday in Dobley, which is near Kenya.
Meanwhile, congressional auditors said yesterday that the United States needs a comprehensive new strategy for Somalia.
The report by the Government Accountability Office said several challenges have limited existing US and international efforts to stabilize the country, which has lacked a functioning central government since 1991.
It noted that an African Union peacekeeping mission has been hampered by a shortage of troops amid an insurgency; humanitarian and development assistance has been limited because poor security keeps aid from the most vulnerable; international food aid has not reduced acute malnutrition rates; and much of the assistance promised to Somalia is conditioned on political progress that has not been achieved.
