At least 2 killed when mortars hit Somalia's international airport

By Salad Duhul
Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Gunmen launched mortars Wednesday on Mogadishu International Airport, killing at least two people a day after troops from neighboring Ethiopia began withdrawing from this chaotic nation.

Also Wednesday, U.S. defense officials said the United States launched an airstrike earlier this week in Somalia against suspected terrorist targets -- the second such attack this month.
The officials, who spoke on the 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.
Without Ethiopia's tanks and fighter jets, the government could barely assert control outside one town and couldn't enter the capital, which was ruled by the Council of Islamic Courts. The U.S. accused the group of having ties to al-Qaida.
Abdilkabir Salad, who was at the gate of the airport when the mortars fell, said he saw two corpses. Another witness, Abdi Mohamed, said he saw three wounded men who had been hit with shrapnel.
"Two mortars landed inside the airport and the other outside," Mohamed said. "There were three planes on the runway when the attack happened." The runway was not damaged.
In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to confirm any strike earlier this week against suspected terrorist targets but said that in general, the United States is "going to go after al-Qaida in the global war on terrorism, wherever it takes us."
He said the nature of some military operations requires that they be kept secret to preserve an advantage in future missions.
Earlier this month, Ethiopian and U.S. forces were pursuing three top al-Qaida suspects but failed to capture or kill them in an AC-130 strike in the southern part of Somalia.


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