CAIRO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Cairo-based Arab League, which groups Somalia, Wednesday said it rejected recent U.S. air raids on Somalia, Egypt's MENA news agency reported.

    AL Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Ahmed bin Helli said in a press statement that the AL categorically rejected U.S. practices and considered them inappropriate and conflicting with international law and norms.

    The U.S. forces were not authorized by the UN Security Council to strike against Somali areas, bin Helli said, adding that no state had the right to launch air raids against another country under any justification.

    The AL is calling for stopping such raids that target civilians and have left several of them dead, he said.

    Bin Helli urged all parties concerned not to violate the Somali sovereignty. Such practices will add to tension in the Horn of Africa country.

    Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed on Tuesday that a U.S. Air Force AC-130 on Sunday targeted what was believed to be "principal al-Qaida leadership" in southern Somalia but declined to discuss damage assessments.