After drone strike,US collects bodies from Somalia

Defence Minister Abdulhakim Mohamoud Haji Faqi called on the US to carry out more airstrikes against the al-Qaeda-linked militants,though he admitted that Somali officials appear not to have been informed about the June 23 operation near the southern coastal town of Kismayo beforehand.

But we are not complaining about that. Absolutely not. We welcome it, Faqi said. We understand the USs need to quickly act on its intelligence on the ground, he said. We urge the US to continue its strikes against al-Shabab because if it keeps those strikes up,it will be easier for us to defeat al-Shabab.

US officials have increased their warnings that the threat from Somalias al-Shabab militant group is growing and that militants are developing stronger ties with the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

New Pentagon chief Leon Panetta told lawmakers last month that as the core al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan undergoes changes,with the killing of Osama bin Laden,the US needs to make sure that the group does not relocate to Somalia.

The only US military base in Africa is in the tiny nation of Djibouti. US troops can also operate from Navy ships moving through the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

In 2009,US helicopters swooped over a convoy carrying the al-Qaeda fugitive Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan,who was killed in the US raid. Elite commandos rappelled to the ground and collected two bodies. Faqi said the June 23 attack was carried out by a US drone,and that after the attack US forces picked up militants who were either killed or injured. Residents in Kismayo reported hearing helicopters hovering overhead the night of the operation.

Faqi said that the government would release the militants names when theyre confirmed by DNA tests.