US Strikes Al Qaeda in Somalia

The US Navy has hit Al Qaeda in southern Somalia.

Several sources tell ABC News at least one U.S. helicopter fired on a convoy carrying suspected al Qaeda targets in southern Somalia. An American official says a U.S. Navy ship was also nearby to monitor the situation and provide assistance if needed.

Ali Nabhan's death has not yet been officially confirmed, but sources tell ABC News that his body is now in U.S. custody.

Ali Nabhan, a 28-year-old Kenyan, is on the FBI's most wanted list for terrorist activities such as the resort and missile attacks as well as participation in the 1998 attack on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

This AFP report gives some local descriptions.

Foreign military forces onboard four helicopters staged a raid on a village in southern Somalia on Monday, opening fire on a vehicle and killing people inside, elders and witnesses said.

The attack occurred in the small village of Erile, around 200 kilometres (120 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, shortly after 1:30 pm (1030 GMT), the sources said.

Al Qaeda-inspired extremists known as the Shebab control the area and are believed to be holding a French agent kidnapped in July, but France denied local claims that its forces were involved in the raid.

"There was a military operation carried out by four foreign choppers in Erile village. A car was destroyed, we are also hearing that some of the vehicle's passengers were taken on the choppers," Abdinasir Mohamed Adan, an elder from the nearby village of Barawe, told AFP by phone.

Unclear which ship conducted the raid, the details suggest it was one of the ships of the Bataan amphibious ready group. My guess would be the assault was launched from USS Ponce (LPD 15), but that may not be accurate.

Well done US forces. No reports of US causalities and this obviously suggests we had good intelligence on the ground. More as details become available.