Battle of Bargal (2007)
Battle of Bargal | |||||||
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Part of the War in Somalia (2006–2009) Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa | |||||||
![]() Somalia, Bargal is at the right hand tip of the Horn. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
12-35 insurgents | Land: unknown militia 3 US Military Sea: 1 destroyer | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
12 killed | Puntland: 5 wounded United States: None |
The Battle of Bargal occurred in June 2007 around the town of Bargal in the northern province of Bari, in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
Battle
[edit]On May 30, between 12 and 35 heavily armed Islamist fighters arrived in two fishing boats from southern Somalia. They were a group of Al-Qaeda fighters from multiple countries heading to the Middle East via Yemen. After their boats sustained damaged from the rough seas they came ashore in Bargal where they raided a local village and clashed with locals before heading up the hills surrounding Bargal. Three members in a task force created by Tier 1 operators from multiple US Military branches (including Chris Vansant a Delta Force operator) who had been tracking the boats arrived in Bargal and with the help of a local warlord "Bashir" set up a patrol base and eventually confronted the fighters. In the fighting some of the local fighters were injured.[1] On June 1, the Combat Controller in the 3 man US team contacted a United States Navy warship, the USS Chafee, and directed fire to the hills around Bargal where Islamist militants had set up a base. The target of the shelling may have been an al-Qaeda operative who the United States believed was involved in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
According to the Puntland regional government, as many as a dozen fighters including Somali militants as well as British nationals, Americans, Swedish, Pakistanis and Yemenis were killed in these operations, and five government troops were injured.
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- BBC News: US attacks Somali 'militant base'
- BBC News: 'Foreign fighters' die in Somalia
- Yahoo! News: Report: U.S. hits militants' Somali base