Al-Shabab fighters have taken control of large sections of territory in the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
French copter crashes in Somalia
Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:40PM GMT
presstv.ir
Nine people are believed to have died after a French helicopter crashed near Somalia's Southern port city of Kismayo, Press TV reports.
The military chopper crashed late on Friday as it was patrolling the area between the town of Kuda and Kismayo, local Somali official, Captain Sabriye, said.
The crash caused a massive explosion and sent flames high into the sky.
French helicopters fly over the area, to provide backup for Kenyan forces, who launched an incursion into Somalia in October in pursuit of al-Shabab fighters.
In late October, French military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said Paris would transport air-borne military equipment to Kenyan soldiers near the Somali border.
US terror drones kill 146 in two days
Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:3PM GMT
presstv.ir
Seventy-nine more people have been killed in US assassination drone attacks in southern Somalia, bringing the death toll to 146 over the past two days, Press TV reported.
The US military launched terror drone attacks on Bilis Qooqaani town, which is located 448 kilometers (278 miles) southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu, on Friday. At least 79 people were killed and several others were injured in the strikes.
The aerial attacks followed US terror drone strikes against Afmadow city, which is situated in the middle of the Juba region and 620 kilometers (385 miles) south of Mogadishu.
Witnesses told Press TV that at least 29 people were killed and 43 others were also injured in the aerial assassination attacks.
Meanwhile, at least 38 people were killed and over 66 others were wounded after US remote-controlled terror drones launched attacks on Tabataa town, which is located in the southern Lower Juba region of Somalia.
Somalia is the sixth country where the United States has used assassination drones to launch deadly missile strikes.
On October 28, the United States admitted to flying the terror aircraft from a base in Ethiopia.
"The US has unarmed and unmanned aircraft at a facility there (Ethiopia) to be used only for surveillance as part of a broad, sustained integrated campaign to counter terrorism," said Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby.
The confirmation appeared a day after The Washington Post revealed in a report that the US flies “armed” drones from an airfield in Ethiopia's southern city of Arba Minch.
The US military has also used assassination drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment