targets near Afmadow and Dhobley. Also on January 8, it was reported that an AC-130 gunship belonging to the United States military had attacked a suspected Al-Qaeda operative, along with other Islamist fighters, on Badmadow Island (possibly the island located at ) near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia the day before (January 7). The aircraft flew out of its base in Djibouti. The U.S. reported 8 - 10 deaths, mostly Somalis, but the identity of the dead or wounded was not yet established. Reports said DNA testing was being done to establish identities but U.S. sources denied that the top al-Qaida targets were among those killed. "The U.S. were trying to kill the al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out the bomb attacks on their embassies in Kenya and Tanzania", Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told The Associated Press. "They have our full support for the attacks." The targeted leaders were tracked by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as they headed south from Mogadishu starting on December 28. It was also reported the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had been moved into striking distance. January 9 On January 9, a second AC-130 strike was reported at Hayo (also Xayo or Hayi, approx. Lat 0º28' N, Long 41º49' E) on the road between the provincial capital of Afmadow and Dhobley (Doble) near the Kenyan border. Later more reports stated that more than 50, mostly Islamist leaders, have died in U.S. air strikes. A strike by two unidentified attack helicopters was also reported hitting near Afmadow (). Somali Defense Ministry personnel stated this was a third U.S. attack, but eyewitness accounts could not establish the nationality of the helicopters. Unconfirmed reports claimed the attacks killed 31 civilians. It was later asserted by a U.S. military official the helicopters may have been Ethiopian Mi-24 Hinds. This would not have been the first case of off-target airstrikes for the Ethiopian attack helicopters. On January 3, they had attacked Harehare village, across the Kenyan border, mistaking it for Islamist positions at the town of Dhobley. January 10 On January 10, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman identified Somalia as part of the war on terror: "As we pursue the war on terror we will seek out, attempt to identify, locate, capture and if necessary kill terrorists and to thwart their activities." A second planned attack was reportedly called off after losing track of the target.