Virginia Beach, Va. - On the hunt for a terrorist known as “Ikrima,” Beach-based Navy SEALs were called in to capture him alive.
“They did an over-the-beach op, which is big. There is nobody better for over-the-beach ops than SEALs,” said Don Mann, a former SEAL Team Six member who performed operations just like this one during his time in the Navy.
The target this past weekend was a guest house on the beach in Somalia, frequented by leaders of Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda affiliate responsible for the deadly mall attack in Kenya.
“You know you’re being watched, so you come pre-dawn, in the middle of the night, and sneak up on the beach. You find the target house, and they found out in this situation that the house was filled with terrorists, and a firefight broke out,” said Mann.
CNN reports that after 20 minutes of heavy gunfire, the SEAL team commander pulled the plug on the mission, because they would not be able to take their target alive.
“If the building is filled with terrorists, you’re outnumbered. Sometimes the best tactic and the best strategy is to retreat,” said Mann.
They left without their high value target, but with their entire team intact.
“None of the SEALs were killed, none were wounded, and they come back to fight another day. It was a successful mission,” said Mann.
The Somalia mission was one of two launched over the weekend by the military to go after high-value terror targets.
This former SEAL just wishes that they were kept secret.
“These guys become targets, their families become targets forever,” said Mann.
