The Battle of Bargal occurred in June 2007 around the town of
Bargal in the northern province of
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...
, in the semi-autonomous region of
Puntland
Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...
.
Battle
On May 30, between 12 and 35 heavily armed Islamist fighters arrived in two fishing boats from southern Somalia and clashed with local troops. On June 1, a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
warship, the
USS ''Chafee'', shelled hills around Bargal where Islamist militants were reported to have set up a base. The target of the shelling may have been an
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
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.
External links
BBC News: US attacks Somali 'militant base'BBC News: 'Foreign fighters' die in SomaliaYahoo! News: Report: U.S. hits militants' Somali base
{{coord missing, Somalia
Bargal 2007
2007 in Somalia
Bari, Somalia
Bargal (2007)
May 2007 events in Africa
June 2007 events in Africa
Bargal