US:The Pentagon has said that the US special forces attack in Somalia was based on credible intelligence "that led us to believe we had principal al-Qaeda leaders in an area where we could identify them and take action against them".
The spokesman would not confirm any of the details of the attack or say if it had killed any specific members of al-Qaeda.
The attack represents the first acknowledged US military action in Somalia since US forces withdrew from the country after the "Black Hawk Down" incident in 1993.
Washington has long believed that some of those responsible for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania have been hiding in Somalia and the CIA is reported to have paid Somali warlords to search for them .
The US accused Islamist militias who took control of Mogadishu last summer of having links with al-Qaeda and Washington supported the Ethiopian-led military campaign in Somalia that began last month in support of the transitional Somali government.
One target of the strike, according to US reports, was Abu Talha al-Sudani, a Sudanese who has lived in Somalia since 1993.
The Islamist retreat from Mogadishu may have helped US special forces to identify targets and the Pentagon spokesman said the US would continue to take action against al-Qaeda around the world. "We're going to remain committed to reducing terrorist capabilities where and when we find them."
"Very clearly, the US government has had a concern that there are terrorists and al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists that were in Somalia. We have a great interest in seeing that those individuals not be able to flee to other locations," state department spokesman Sean McCormack said.