Washington, D.C, .January 26, 2007 - The United States Department of Defense has firmly denied reports of the capture of American soldiers in southern Somalia, stating "no U.S. service members have been captured or killed in Somalia."

A press officer from the department on Friday said the U.S. is "cooperating" with foot soldiers in East Africa to "track, locate, and identify" suspected terrorists and members of al-Qaeda. The department declined to comment further on the grounds that details of operations in East Africa were "sensitive information."

In a report Friday, January 26th, the Shabelle Media Network reported that unnamed Arab and Western diplomatic sources "confirmed that an unspecified number of U.S. foot soldiers was seized in southern Somalia."

Source: allAfrica.com