Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: U.S. airstrike targets Somali militia leader

From Wire Reports

The United States launched an airstrike Monday against a senior al-Shabab militia leader in southwestern Somalia, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Rear Adm. John Kirby did not name the target of the strike near the town of Saakow, northeast of the militants’ stronghold of Kismayo, saying only that security officials were “assessing the results of the operation” that would be made public when appropriate and as details become available.

No civilian casualties were known to have resulted from the airstrike, Kirby said.

A U.S. airstrike in early September killed al-Shabab’s top commander, Ahmed Abdi Godane, as he traveled in a convoy south of the government-controlled capital, Mogadishu.

In October, Navy SEALs raided the home of another al-Shabab leader, Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, in Baraawe, south of Mogadishu, in a failed attempt to capture the militant also known as Ikrima.

Call for Greek elections fuels investor concerns

ATHENS, Greece – Greece’s government was forced Monday to call early national elections, stoking financial concerns as investors worry the main opposition party will win – and want to renege on the country’s bailout deal.

The Athens stock market closed 3.9 percent lower, recovering from an earlier 11.3 percent plunge on news of the election, which was triggered by parliament’s failure to elect a new Greek president.

Investors fear the left-wing opposition Syriza party, which has a narrow but steady lead in opinion polls, might act on popular resentment at six years of government austerity by seeking to overhaul the international bailout deal.

At the height of the eurozone crisis in 2010-2012, Greece’s financial turmoil risked breaking up the currency union, an event which would have shaken the global economy.