CNN
(CNN) — U.S. military forces were involved in two separate operations in Africa — one of them targeting a member of the group Al-Shabaab that was behind last month’s Kenya mall attack, and the other going after an al Qaeda leader tied to bombings of two U.S. embassies.
The Al-Shabaab raid took place in Somalia, where that terrorist group is based, sometime in the past 24 hours, a senior U.S. official said Saturday evening.
The team of U.S. Navy SEALs had to withdraw before it could confirm whether it killed the target because they came under fire, the official said. The SEALs made the “prudent decision” to withdraw rather than engage in further combat, according to the official.
The other mission ended in the capture of Abu Anas al Libi, who is suspected to have played a significant role in the August 7, 1998, bombings of American embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. officials said.
The key al Qaeda operative was captured by U.S. special operations forces in Tripoli, Libya, according to the officials.
This U.S. operation was conducted with the knowledge of the Libyan government, said one U.S. official.
The-CNN-Wire
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