The Baraawe raid, code named Operation Celestial Balance, was a helicopter assault by

United States Special Operations Forces United States special operations forces (SOF) are the active and reserve component forces of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force within the US military, as designated by the Secretary of Defense and specifically organized, ...

against the

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

-linked terrorist

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan () (4 April 1979, Mombasa, Kenya – 14 September 2009, near Baraawe, Somalia) also known as Abu Yusuf, was an operative of al-Qaeda in Somalia. He was listed on the FBI's third major "wanted" list, the FBI Seeking I ...

and associated al-Shabaab militants near the town of Baraawe in southern

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Background

Nabhan was the facilitator between al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab, he had been wanted by the United States since 2006, as he was a member of the east-African al-Qaeda cell responsible for several terrorist attacks in East Africa, including the

1998 United States embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 220 people were killed in two nearly simultaneous car bomb, truck bomb explosions in two East African capital cities, one at the Embassy of the Uni ...

and the

2002 Mombasa attacks The 2002 Mombasa attacks were two coordinated terrorist attacks on 28 November 2002 in Mombasa, Kenya, against an Israeli-owned hotel and a plane belonging to Arkia Airlines. An all-terrain vehicle crashed through a barrier outside the Paradi ...

. In 2007, in the midst of the Battle of Ras Kamboni, Nabhan was unsuccessfully targeted by an American military airstrike in the town of

Ras Kamboni Kamboni (; ) is a town in the Badhaadhe district of Lower Juba region, Somalia, which lies on a peninsula near the border with Kenya. It is the southernmost town in Somalia. The tip of that peninsula is called Ras Kamboni (Cape Kamboni). The t ...

. A long-Running

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

CTC/ SAD operation that hunted for the individual for a number of years, recruiting a network of Somali agents and paying off Somali warlords for information on the location of Nabhan and his associates. A team from the ISA began getting a precise location of the target from cell phone intercepts and surveillance from both short-range

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Scan Eagle UAVs and long range CIA

Predators Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

. CIA and JSOC planners presented

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

with 4 options: a

Tomahawk cruise missile The BGM-109 Tomahawk () Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an American long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship and submarine-based land-attack operations. ...

strike, an airstrike, an attack by Little Bird helicopters or an attempt to capture the target with an assault force of SEALs. Obama picked the airstrike option as it limited the any potential collateral damage and the chances of US casualties.

Raid

On the day of the operation, Nabhan was seen traveling in a two-car convoy from the southern coastal town of Barawe, this was reportedly the best opportunity to target him as he would be away from civilian population, particularly as the convoy had stopped for breakfast. As a

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

AV-8B approached its release point, it reported a malfunction in its targeting system; so 4 helicopters (2 AH-6M Little Birds and 2 MH-6M Little Birds) piloted by members of the 160th SOAR, carrying a team of

SEALs Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

from

DEVGRU The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), abbreviated as DEVGRU ("Development Group") and unofficially known as SEAL Team Six, is the United States Navy component of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The unit is often r ...

launched from a Navy Ship off-shore. The AH-6s strafed the two-vehicle convoy, killing Nabhan and 3 al-Shabaab terrorists, the MH-6s dropped off the DEVGRU operators who cleared the vehicles and recovered Nabhan's body. The DEVGRU operatives placed the bodies of the four terrorists in body bags and loaded them onto their helicopters. The DEVGRU operatives extracted onto the helicopters and returned to their naval vessels. ''CBS News'' reported that two other wounded militants were also captured."Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command" by Sean Naylor chapter 28.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baraawe, 2009 Baraawe raid Baraawe raid Baraawe raid, 2009 Baraawe raid Battles of the Somali Civil War involving the United States Battles in 2009 Airstrikes conducted by the United States Battles involving al-Shabaab (militant group) Helicopter attacks South West State of Somalia Airstrikes in Somalia

Background

Raid

See also

References