The US air strikes in Somalia failed to kill any of the three al-Qaeda suspects they had targeted, a top US official revealed yesterday.
The three were wanted in connection with the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es salaam and a 2002 attack on Israeli targets in Kikambala, Mombasa.
Somali officials had earlier reported that one of the men had been killed.
The US accused Somalia’s routed Islamist group of harbouring the three - charges they denied. The air strikes have been strongly criticised.
The US official, who refused to be named, however said that Somalis with close ties to al-Qaeda had been killed.
Earlier, US ambassador to Kenya and Somalia Michael Ranneberger told the BBC that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed had not been killed, contradicting Wednesday’s reports.
Ambassador Michael Ranneberger also strongly denied reports that a number of civilians had died in the attack.
Washington has dismissed criticism of its first overt military action in Somalia since 1994, saying it was necessary to defend the US and the international community from further al-Qaeda attacks.
Kenyan intelligence sources said on Wednesday that Mr Mohammed’s wife and the wife of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, also wanted by the FBI for an attack in East Africa in 2002, had been arrested in Kenya after fleeing the coastal Somali town of Ras Kamboni.
The US government is offering a $5 million reward for the capture of Mr Mohammed.
The Islamists took control of much of southern Somalia last year before being routed by Ethiopian and Somali government forces in recent weeks.
Since taking control of the capital, Mogadishu, media reports say security forces have arrested about 40 Ethiopians of Oromo origin, killing one of them. Another Oromo person has been killed in Jowhar in a similar round-up.
Oromo refugees have been living in the country for the last 14 years after Oromo rebels took up arms against the Addis Ababa government.
A local Somali MP said 27 civilians had died in recent air strikes near Afmadow.
But Mr Ranneberger denied this.
“It’s been troubling to see these reports about bombing and all these activities killing civilians, I can tell you categorically that no civilians were killed or injured as a result of that action,” he said.
Reports suggest Ethiopian MiG fighters and helicopter gunships seen in the city of Kismayo may be involved.
On Wednesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said several terror suspects had been either killed or captured in the strikes.
He said those killed “may have involved very senior Islamist court leaders”.
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