Puntland?

Report: U.S. hits militants’ Somali base

At least one U.S. warship bombarded a remote, mountainous village in Somalia where Islamic militants had set up a base, officials in the northern region of Puntland said Saturday.

The attack from a U.S. destroyer took place late Friday, said Muse Gelle, the regional governor. The extremists had arrived Wednesday by speedboat at the port town of Bargal.

Gelle said the area is a dense thicket, making it difficult for security forces from the semiautonomous republic of Puntland to intervene on their own.

A local radio station quoted Puntland’s leader, Ade Muse, as saying that his forces had battled with the extremists for hours before U.S. ships arrived and used their cannons. Muse said five of his troops were wounded, but that he had no information about casualties among the extremists.

A task force of coalition ships, called CTF-150, is permanently based in the northern Indian Ocean and patrols the Somali coast in hopes of intercepting international terrorists. U.S. destroyers are normally assigned to the task force and patrol in pairs.

I’m pretty good with geography, … but … “Puntland?”

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  1. Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator on 02 Jun 2007 at 8:04 am

    U.S. Hits Militants’ Somali Base…

    At least one U.S. warship bombarded a remote, mountainous village in Somalia where Islamic militants…

Comments

  1. Redhand wrote:

    I hadn’t heard of it either, but this Wikipedia search provides some info. Looks like it’s a breakaway province of Somalia at the literal tip of the “Horn of Africa.”

  2. Grim wrote:

    Not “breakaway” exactly. What they’re doing is not precisely like secession. It would be somewhat like Washington, D.C. declaring itself to be the 51st state, and demanding the to enjoy the autonomy and exercise the powers that states do.

  3. canuckistani wrote:

    My local museum has a display on ancient Egypt and one of their trading partners was the Land of Punt, way up the Nile. I had no idea it was still a real place.

  4. CDR Salamander wrote:

    Don’t forget Somaliland, which BTW is doing OK by comparison with the rest of that nightmare part of the world.

  5. Redhand wrote:

    ancient Egypt . . . one of their trading partners was the Land of Punt

    Amazing what info surfaces from this random post of Commie. “Who knew?” as they say.