Photograph by Jason Uhlig / DVIDS
US special forces carried out two raids on suspected terror targets in north and east Africa over the weekend, with questions being asked about the legality and appropriateness of the operations.
In Somalia the US launched an attack from the sea on suspected al-Shabab headquarters in Barawe to capture Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Ahmed Godane, who is credited as the mastermind behind last month’s terror attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Somali mission was sanctioned by the country’s government, but ended in failure as the Navy Seals from Seal Team Six aborted the mission after a 15-20 minute fire-fight and encountering fiercer than expected resistance.
In Tripoli, Libya, US Army Delta Force commandos launched an attack from a NATO country and managed to capture suspected al-Qaeda leader Nazih Abdul-Hamed al Ruqai, also known as Abu Anas al-Liby, who was believed to have been the mastermind behind the simultaneous bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Speaking on the raids, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said:
“These operations in Libya and Somalia send a strong message to the world that the United States will spare no effort to hold terrorists accountable, no matter where they hide or how long they evade justice.”
Whilst the US may have been targeting well-established terror targets in both raids, the mission in Libya was without sanction from the Libyan government, and therefore in contravention of international law and an infringement upon Libya’s national sovereignty. The Libyan government has publicly called for an explanation from the US, although has said that they hoped this would not affect relations between the two countries.
Kerry has defended the raid in Libya as targeting a “legal and appropriate target”
