US president Barack Obama says American forces assisted in a failed attempt to rescue a French secret agent captured by insurgents in Somalia.
"United States combat aircraft briefly entered Somali airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed. These aircraft did not employ weapons during the operation," Obama said in his letter to to Congress on Sunday.
Obama said the troops provided limited technical support to French forces leading the operation on Friday.
The president sent the letter to US lawmakers to fulfil his obligations under the War Powers Resolution, which requires him to inform policy-makers within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action without congressional authorisation.
alJazeera
"These aircraft did not employ weapons during the operation." Did that have anything to do with the failure?
Obama said the operation was warranted to further US national security interests, and said US forces "took no direct part in the assault on the compound where it was believed the French citizen was being held hostage."
The French team was trying to free Denis Allex, held since 2009 by al-Qaeda linked al-Shabaab, but insurgents apparently killed their hostage during the raid, along with a commando.
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The French defense ministry said that 17 Somali fighters also died in the fight.
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French officials say the hostage is almost certainly dead.
For his sake, I hope so. [
UPDATE 1/16]
But the al-Shabab militants denied Mr Le Drian's assertion that they had killed the hostage, a secret agent whose alias is Denis Allex, adding that they would decide his fate in two days and issuing a stern warning to Paris.
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An al-Shabab statement said "in the end, it will be the French citizens who will inevitably taste the bitter consequences of their government's devil-may-care attitude towards hostages".
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The al-Shabab statement said the French carried away "several" of their dead.
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"Several French soldiers were killed in the battle and many more were injured before they fled from the scene of battle, leaving behind some military paraphernalia and even one of their comrades on the ground.
"The injured French soldier is now in the custody of the mujahedeen and Allex still remains safe and far from the location of the battle," the terrorist group said.
A Bulomarer resident, Idris Youssouf, said: "We don't know exactly what happened because the attack took place at night, but this morning we saw several corpses including that of a white man.
"Three civilians were also killed in the gunfight," he said.
The Australian
