Helicopter-borne US commandos raid Al Shabab base in Somalia

American special forces troops carried out a predawn raid early Wednesday morning on a town in southern Somalia controlled by the Al Shabab terrorist organization. A senior American defense official confirmed that elite US troops were involved but declined to specify the scope, goals and results of the assault. Following a 1993 incident in which 18 American soldiers were killed when their helicopter was shot down in Mogadishu, the US did not take military action in Somalia for more than 20 years.