Also on this day, a pair of reports arose which were covered widely in the media, but later contradicted by U.S. sources. The first was a report by Somali presidential chief of staff, Abdirizak Hassan, who stated the U.S. airstrikes had killed Al Qaeda member Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, and leaders of the Islamic Courts Union including Abduallahi Moalim Ali (former chief of security for Mogadishu), Abdirahman Janaqow, and a third unidentified person. The bodies had reportedly been recovered by Ethiopian military personnel. This report was refuted the next day by a confidential U.S. source, who said the hunt for the three Al Qaeda members continues, though it was not mentioned whether the other ICU leaders mentioned were alive or dead. The second report mentioned at least four more AC-130 airstrikes targeted Ras Kamboni. Other sites were also said to have been targeted by U.S. aircraft around southern Somalia. Somali politician Abdirashid Mohamed Hidig toured the area by helicopter and spoke of 50 killed in the attacks. He said additional targets hit include Hayo, Garer, Bankajirow and Badmadowe. Clan elder Haji Farah Qorshel claimed 64 people were killed and 100 wounded around Afmadow in three days of attacks. However, confidential sources denied the additional attacks were made by the U.S. Ethiopian aircraft are also known to be operating in the combat area. January 11 On January 11, the American ambassador to Kenya said that the U.S. claimed Al-Qaeda suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was actually still alive and that none of the Al-Qaeda members were killed in the air attack but some members of the ICU were killed. Later in the day, anonymous U.S. sources stated that U.S. forces from the CIA's elite Special Activities Division were on the ground in Somalia targeting and then identifying the persons who had been killed in the gunship attack. January 12 On January 12, TFG Defense Minister Barre Aden Shirre Hiiraale announced Ras Kamboni had fallen to the Somali government and Ethiopian forces after five days of heavy fighting. Remnants of the Islamist forces were being pursued into the nearby forests and fighting would continue. A small team of U.S. forces investigated the site of the U.S. gunship attack to search for information about the identity and fate of the targeted individuals. January 17 Theresa Whelan, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, in a press conference said she believed the raid killed