Al-Qaida fugitive killed in U.S. raid in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia – U.S. helicopters, guns blazing, swooped over a convoy carrying a top al-Qaida fugitive in rural southern Somalia. Elite commandos rappelled to the ground, collected two bodies, and took off on a cloud of red dust. The raid took just 15 minutes.

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, wanted for the 2002 car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner, was killed in Monday’s raid, according to U.S. and Somali officials.

The helicopter assault – rare in Somalia since the October 1993 battle of “Black Hawk Down” that was chronicled in a book and movie – underscored Washington’s concerns that lawless Somalia is fast becoming a haven for terrorists, including foreigners who want to plot attacks beyond the African country’s borders.

Three senior U.S. officials familiar with the operation said Nabhan was killed.