Battle of Ras Kamboni ( 2007 ) The Battle of Ras Kamboni was a battle in the 2006 - 2007 Somali War fought by the Islamic Courts Union ( ICU ) and affiliated militias against Ethiopia n and the Somali Transitional Federal Government ( TFG ) forces for control of Ras Kamboni ( ) , a town near the Kenyan border which once served as a training camp for the militant Islamist group Al - Itihaad al - Islamiya . The battle began on January 5 , 2007 , when TFG and Ethiopian forces launched their assault . On January 7 , 2007 , the United States entered the conflict by launching airstrikes using an AC - 130 gunship against suspected Al Qaeda members operating within the ranks of the ICU . International concern and controversy arose over civilian casualties in additional airstrikes around Ras Kamboni and in Afmadow province , and whether these were the result of U . S . actions or Ethiopian aircraft operating in the area . The town finally fell to the TFG and Ethiopian forces on January 12 , 2007 . Background . U . S . security concerns in the Horn of Africa , particularly at Ras Kamboni , heightened after the September 11 , 2001 attacks on the United States . On December 16 , 2001 , Paul Wolfowitz said the U . S . was meeting with various Somali and Ethiopian contacts to " observe , survey possible escape routes , possible sanctuaries " for Al Qaeda operatives . On March 2 , 2002 a briefing was held in the Pentagon discussing the possible use of Ras Kamboni by terrorist groups , including al - Ittihaad al - Islamiya ( AIAI ) and Al Qaeda . In December 2002 , the U . S . established the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa ( CJTF - HOA ) to monitor developments in the region and to train local militaries in counterterrorism . When Ethiopian troops entered the Somalian conflict in December 2006 , a small number of U . S . special forces accompanied them to give military advice and to track suspected al - Qaida fighters . On December 28 , 2006 , withdrawal of the ICU to Ras Kamboni was reported as a possibility after the Fall of Mogadishu to Somali TFG and Ethiopian forces . After their loss at the Battle of Jilib and the Fall of Kismayo on January 1 , 2007 , ICU fighters split into different groups , with some heading northwest towards Dhobley ( ) and Afmadow , others moving to the remote , hilly areas of Buur Gaabo , and the remainder withdrawing southwest towards the peninsula town of Ras Kamboni . On January 2 , 2007 , Ethiopian MiG jets began to patrol over Ras Kamboni but no attacks were reported . U . S . Marines operating from Lamu , Kenya , were said to be assisting Kenyan forces patrolling the border with Somalia to intercept Islamists . Unknown gunmen thought to be Somali Islamists fired shots at a Kenyan security helicopter patrolling near the border with Somalia . The helicopter was flying over the southeastern Kenyan border town of Hulugho . The report did not say if the aircraft was damaged but said gunmen fired small arms from the region of Ras Kamboni , the base for the fleeing Islamists . The United States Fifth Fleet ' s Carrier Strike Group 8 , along with the British - led multinational maritime task force , Combined Task Force 150 ( CTF - 150 ) , based out of Bahrain are patrolling off the Somali coast to prevent terrorists from launching an " attack or to transport personnel , weapons or other material " , said Commander Kevin Aandahl . The U . S . ships deployed to the area include the USS " Ramage " guided missile destroyer , the USS " Bunker Hill " and USS " Anzio " guided missile cruisers , the USS " Ashland " amphibious landing ship and the USS " Dwight D . Eisenhower " aircraft carrier . Battle . January 5 . On January 5 , 2007 , TFG Defense Minister Colonel Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced : " Today we will launch a massive assault on the Islamic courts militias . We will use infantry troops and fighter jets . . . They have dug huge trenches around Ras Kamboni but have only two options : to drown in the sea or to fight and die . " January 6 . Fighting continued January 6 in the forests south of Kismayo near the Kenyan border , where it was reported the Islamists were holding out armed with over 100 technicals . January 8 . On January 8 , 2007 , Col . Hiraale announced TFG and Ethiopian forces were close to entering Ras Kamboni after two days of fierce battles . Premature reports came of the fall of Ras Kamboni . One was from TFG member Abdirashid Hidig . A second came from a TFG military divisional commander , Abdirisak Afgadud ( alternately spelled Abdulrasaq Afgebub ) : " Our forces accompanied by our Ethiopian friends have totally cracked down on the remnants of the Islamists in the border area . " Defense Minister Hiraale corrected and clarified the reports , saying fighting was ongoing . 50 wounded Ethiopian troops were reported evacuated by helicopter . To the north of Ras Kamboni , elsewhere in Badhadhe province , an Ethiopian force intercepted Islamist forces in the area of the Kenyan border town of Amuma , Garissa district . Seven vehicles were destroyed . A platoon of Kenyan border police were in the area to enforce the border closure . In Afmadow province , Ethiopia launched airstrikes against targets near Afmadow and Dhobley . Also on January 8 , it was reported that an AC - 130 gunship belonging to the United States military had attacked a suspected Al - Qaeda operative , along with other Islamist fighters , on Badmadow Island ( possibly the island located at ) near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia the day before ( January 7 ) . The aircraft flew out of its base in Djibouti . The U . S . reported 8 - 10 deaths , mostly Somalis , but the identity of the dead or wounded was not yet established . Reports said DNA testing was being done to establish identities but U . S . sources denied that the top al - Qaida targets were among those killed . " The U . S . were trying to kill the al - Qaeda terrorists who carried out the bomb attacks on their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania " , Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told The Associated Press . " They have our full support for the attacks . " The targeted leaders were tracked by the use of unmanned aerial vehicle s ( UAVs ) as they headed south from Mogadishu starting on December 28 . It was also reported the aircraft carrier USS " Dwight D . Eisenhower " had been moved into striking distance . January 9 . On January 9 , a second AC - 130 strike was reported at Hayo ( also Xayo or Hayi , approx . Lat 0º28 ’ N , Long 41º49 ’ E ) on the road between the provincial capital of Afmadow and Dhobley ( Doble ) near the Kenyan border . Later more reports stated that more than 50 , mostly Islamist leaders , have died in U . S . air strikes . A strike by two unidentified attack helicopters was also reported hitting near Afmadow ( ) . Somali Defense Ministry personnel stated this was a third U . S . attack , but eyewitness accounts could not establish the nationality of the helicopters . Unconfirmed reports claimed the attacks killed 31 civilians . It was later asserted by a U . S . military official the helicopters may have been Ethiopian Mi - 24 Hind s . This would not have been the first case of off - target airstrikes for the Ethiopian attack helicopters . On January 3 , they had attacked Harehare village , across the Kenyan border , mistaking it for Islamist positions at the town of Dhobley . January 10 . On January 10 , Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman identified Somalia as part of the war on terror : " As we pursue the war on terror we will seek out , attempt to identify , locate , capture and if necessary kill terrorists and to thwart their activities . " A second planned attack was reportedly called off after losing track of the target . Also on this day , a pair of reports arose which were covered widely in the media , but later contradicted by U . S . sources . The first was a report by Somali presidential chief of staff , Abdirizak Hassan , who stated the U . S . airstrikes had killed Al Qaeda member Fazul Abdullah Mohammed , and leaders of the Islamic Courts Union including Abduallahi Moalim Ali ( former chief of security for Mogadishu ) , Abdirahman Janaqow , and a third unidentified person . The bodies had reportedly been recovered by Ethiopian military personnel . This report was refuted the next day by a confidential U . S . source , who said the hunt for the three Al Qaeda members continues , though it was not mentioned whether the other ICU leaders mentioned were alive or dead . The second report mentioned at least four more AC - 130 airstrikes targeted Ras Kamboni . Other sites were also said to have been targeted by U . S . aircraft around southern Somalia . Somali politician Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig toured the area by helicopter and spoke of 50 killed in the attacks . He said additional targets hit include Hayo , Garer , Bankajirow and Badmadowe . Clan elder Haji Farah Qorshel claimed 64 people were killed and 100 wounded around Afmadow in three days of attacks . However , confidential sources denied the additional attacks were made by the U . S . Ethiopian aircraft are also known to be operating in the combat area . January 11 . On January 11 , the American ambassador to Kenya said that the U . S . claimed Al - Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was actually still alive and that none of the Al - Qaeda members were killed in the air attack but some members of the ICU were killed . Later in the day , anonymous U . S . sources stated that U . S . forces from the CIA ' s elite Special Activities Division were on the ground in Somalia targeting and then identifying the persons who had been killed in the gunship attack . January 12 . On January 12 , TFG Defense Minister Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced Ras Kamboni had fallen to the Somali government and Ethiopian forces after five days of heavy fighting . Remnants of the Islamist forces were being pursued into the nearby forests and fighting would continue . A small team of U . S . forces investigated the site of the U . S . gunship attack to search for information about the identity and fate of the targeted individuals . January 17 . Theresa Whelan , U . S . deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs , in a press conference said she believed the raid killed eight soldiers of Aden Hashi Farah Ayro , head of an Islamist militia . Ayro was believed to have been wounded in the attack and perhaps killed .