MOGADISHU, Somalia - U.S. warships bombarded a remote, mountainous village where Islamic militants had set up a base, officials in the northern Somali region of Puntland said Saturday.
The attack from a U.S. destroyer took place late Friday, said Muse Gelle, the regional governor. The extremists had arrived Wednesday by speedboat at the port town of Bargal.
Gelle said the area is a dense thicket, making it difficult for security forces from the semiautonomous republic of Puntland to intervene on its own.
A local radio station quoted Puntland's leader, Ade Muse, as saying that his forces had battled with the extremists for hours before the U.S. ships arrived and used their cannons. Muse said five of his troops were wounded, but that he had no information about casualties among the extremists.
CNN International, quoting a Pentagon official, also reported the U.S. warship's involvement. A Pentagon spokesman told The Associated Press he had no information about the incident.
Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government was sidelined by a radical Islamic group until Ethiopia's military intervened in December and turned the tide.
Insurgents linked to the Islamic group have vowed to wage an Iraq-style guerrilla war, saying the government is allowing Ethiopia to occupy the country.
The government claimed victory over the insurgents a few weeks ago after battles in Mogadishu that killed at least 1,670 people and drove a fifth of the city's 2 million residents to flee.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords ousted longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another.
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