International concern over civilian casualties mounted Tuesday after the United States launched air strikes in Somalia against what the Pentagon said were ''principal'' al-Qaida suspects.
U.S. officials said the offensive was based on ''credible intelligence'' about the whereabouts of al-Qaida operatives, while critics note it comes just ahead of President George W. Bush's major address tonight on his administration's new strategy for Iraq and the war on terror.
The U.S. scrambled an AC-130 gunship capable of firing thousands of rounds a minute to attack villages in southern Somalia where it said al-Qaida suspects had been spotted Monday. Helicopter gunships carried out a second wave of attacks Tuesday, but it was unclear whether they were U.S. operated, or launched by Ethiopian forces allied to the U.S. and the United Nations-backed transitional government in Somalia.
Civilians were among the ''many dead'' in Monday's strikes, while locals said the attacks Tuesday left between 22 and 27 people dead.
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