Many casualties are reported following a number of US air strikes on villages in southern Somalia.
US helicopter gunships launched new attacks today against suspected al-Qaeda members, a Somali official said, a day after American forces launched airstrikes in the first offensive in the African country since 18 US troops were killed there in 1993.
The latest attacks killed at least 27 civilians in the town of Afmadow in southern Somalia, local politician Abdiqadir Daqane told journalists.
At least one AC-130 gunship carried out an airstrike last night against targets in the town about 220 miles southwest of the capital of Mogadishu, Somali officials said. It was not immediately clear how many people died in those attacks, but Somali officials said there were reports that many were killed.
The US attacks were targeting Islamic extremists, according to a Somali Defence Ministry official. Earlier, Somalia's president had said the US was hunting suspects in the 1998 bombings of the two US embassies in East Africa, and had his support.
The White House would not confirm today's attacks, nor would the Pentagon.
A US government official said at least one AC-130 gunship was used last night.
It was the first US offensive in the Horn of Africa country since the Americans led a UN force in the 1990s that intervened in Somalia in an effort to fight famine. The mission led to clashes between UN forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle that left 18 US servicemen dead.