US warship bomb targets in northeastern Somalia

MOGADISHU (AFP) - A US warship overnight bombed targets in northeastern Somalia after Islamist fighters clashed with troops from the country's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, witnesses and officials said Saturday.

"We cannot yet tell you the casuality figures, but what I can confirm is that the American warship bombed several targets in the surroundings of Bargal at night," Mohamoud Salah, a resident in the area told AFP by satellite phone.

A Puntland military official confirmed the bombing that came three days after authorities there reported the entry of Islamist fighters and foreigners of Arab origin into Bargal, about 1250 kilometres (781 miles) northeast of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

"Our forces have fought with Islamic fighters, including foreigners linked to Al Qaeda," said the official, who requested anonymity.

"After the fighting a US Navy ship bombed three targets in the outskirts of Bargal in the mountaneous area," he said.

"We cannot get information on casualities, but the bombardment continued for hours... The Puntland troops are still chasing Islamic fighters in the mountainous area," he added.

Earlier this year, a US gunship bombed positions in southern Somalia after Ethiopia-backed government forces ousted a powerful Islamist movement from the country's southern and central regions.

The bombardment was targeting suspected Al Qaeda operatives that were blamed for the 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam as well as the 2002 attack of an Israeli-owned hotel in the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

US intelligence said Al Qeada has stepped up operations in Somalia, a nation of about 10 million people that has been wracked by lawlessness since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.