NAIROBI, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States launched a fresh air strike on Tuesday in southern Somalia, close to the place where the U.S. military struck against targets suspected of al-Qaeda operations a day earlier, reports reaching here said.

    The attacks were launched by at least two helicopters. There were no reports about casualties now.

    Somali government officials confirmed on Tuesday that The United States launched an air strike against an suspected al-Qaeda cell in a village of southern Somalia late on Monday.

    Officials of the transitional government said that U.S. AC-130 gunship, operated by the Special Operations Command, flew from its base in Djibouti to the southern tip of Somalia, where the al-Qaeda suspects were believed to have fled from the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

    "We can confirm that US gunships raided targets in a village in southern Somalia late on Monday," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said by telephone from Baidoa where the transitional government is based.

    "The target was a small village called Badel. And the gunship did hit the exact target so the operation was successful," Dinari said.

    Related:

    UN chief expresses concern over US airstrikes in Somalia

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern that airstrikes launched by the United States in Somalia over the weekend may result in an escalation of hostilities, his spokeswoman Michele Montas said on Tuesday.

    The UN chief is also concerned about the impact on civilians in southern Somalia and regrets the reported loss of civilian lives, Montas told a press briefing.

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