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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| 'US planes' bomb town in Somalia | 'US planes' bomb town in Somalia |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| An Islamist-held town in southern Somalia has been hit by three missiles, fired by a US plane, local elders say. | An Islamist-held town in southern Somalia has been hit by three missiles, fired by a US plane, local elders say. |
| The US bombed the area a year ago, trying to target Islamists, and residents say it was the same plane but the US authorities have not commented. | The US bombed the area a year ago, trying to target Islamists, and residents say it was the same plane but the US authorities have not commented. |
| Six people were killed in the air strikes on Dhoble town and 20 wounded. | Six people were killed in the air strikes on Dhoble town and 20 wounded. |
| Somalia's Islamist insurgents seized the town last week and one of their leaders Hassan Turki was reportedly in the area over the weekend. | Somalia's Islamist insurgents seized the town last week and one of their leaders Hassan Turki was reportedly in the area over the weekend. |
| "We woke up with a loud and big bang and when we came out we found our neighbour's house completely obliterated as if no house existed here," local resident Fatuma Abdullahi told the BBC. | "We woke up with a loud and big bang and when we came out we found our neighbour's house completely obliterated as if no house existed here," local resident Fatuma Abdullahi told the BBC. |
| Regrouping | |
| Islamist spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow said the US was trying to hit Islamist hideouts in the area. | Islamist spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow said the US was trying to hit Islamist hideouts in the area. |
| "The Americans bombed the town and hit civilians targets thinking that they were Islamist hideouts. They used an AC-130 plane," he told the AFP news agency. | "The Americans bombed the town and hit civilians targets thinking that they were Islamist hideouts. They used an AC-130 plane," he told the AFP news agency. |
| Somalia is the world's worst place for children, the UN saysLocal official Ali Hussein told the BBC that many people were fleeing the town. | |
| The border with Kenya has been closed for the past year. | |
| There have been reports that the Islamists have been regrouping in the area around Dhoble in recent weeks. | |
| They were ousted from the capital, Mogadishu in December 2006 by government forces, backed up by Ethiopia, with some intelligence from the US. | |
| Dhoble was the last town they held. | |
| The US has an anti-terror task force based in nearby Djibouti. | The US has an anti-terror task force based in nearby Djibouti. |
| It accused the Somali Islamists of harbouring those responsible for the 1998 attacks on its embassies in Kenyan and Tanzania. | It accused the Somali Islamists of harbouring those responsible for the 1998 attacks on its embassies in Kenyan and Tanzania. |
| The Islamists denied this, as well as reports they had links to al-Qaeda. | |
| Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991. | |
| Last month, a senior UN official told the BBC that Somalia was the worst place in the world for children. |