Unidentified foreign forces have launched a
night-time raid on a militant base in the south
Somali town of Barawe from the sea, reports say.
A spokesman for the al-Shabab Islamist group told
Reuters news agency that a fighter had been killed in
the raid.
Reports speak of residents in the militant-controlled
town being woken by heavy gunfire before dawn
prayers.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility last month for a
deadly attack on a Kenyan shopping mall.
At least 67 people were killed after militants stormed
the Westgate mall in the capital, Nairobi, on 21
September.
An unnamed Somali intelligence official told the
Associated Press that the targets of Saturday's raid had
been "high-profile" foreigners. The source did not say
which country had carried out the operation.
Both US and French special forces have carried out
raids on coastal targets in Somalia in recent years.
'Helicopters'
There was no immediate comment on Saturday's
alleged attack in Barawe from the Western-backed
authorities in Somalia.
According to the Somali news website Midnimo, two
helicopters were also involved in the raid.
"Westerners in boats attacked our base at Barawe
beach and one was martyred from our side," Sheikh
Abdiasis Abu Musab, described as al-Shabab's
spokesman for military operations, told Reuters by
telephone.
Another al-Shabab member, named as Abu Mohamed,
told AP that "foreign" soldiers had attacked a house in
Barawe.
Militants rushed to the scene to capture a foreign
soldier but were unsuccessful, he added.
Western navies tasked with fighting piracy patrol the
seas off Somalia, which has been beset by conflict for
more than two decades.
In 2009, US Navy commandos attacked and killed an
al-Qaeda leader, Kenyan-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan,
in a daylight raid on Barawe.
Washington has also used drones in Somalia to support
the government and African Union forces in their battle
against al-Shabab.
France carried out an unsuccessful raid to free a
French intelligence agent in January. Two French
commandos were killed and al-Shabab later reported
that it had killed the agent.
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