The deadly U.S. military strike in Somalia this week, carried out by a team of commandos in helicopters, was designed to limit civilian casualties while targeting an Al Qaeda-linked suspect, American officials said Tuesday.
A U.S. official familiar with details of the raid said the special operations forces had tracked Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan for some time, but waited for him to move away from a populated area before attacking.
"We've all learned how important it is to avoid civilian casualties," the official said. "In both counterinsurgency operations and specific counter-terrorism strikes, we have striven, particularly in recent months, to be as precise as possible."
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the U.S. government is not publicly acknowledging Monday's strike.
During the George W. Bush administration, the U.S. military struck at targets in Somalia several times with cruise missiles. Those strikes were blamed for killing dozens of civilians and stirred anti-American sentiment.
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