Cyclone Phailin: Thousands Flee In East India

More than 250,000 villagers have fled their homes as a huge cyclone gathers strength and heads towards India's east coast.

Cyclone Phailin - which is already so large it has nearly filled the Bay of Bengal - is expected to be the fiercest storm to hit India since a devastating cyclone killed 10,000 people 14 years ago.

Large waves have already been pounding beaches in the state of Andhra Pradesh before the storm is due to hit.

Villagers along the coast were evacuated to schools in the north of the state and in neighbouring Odisha, while panic buying drove up food prices.

Authorities have been evacuating villagers along the coast to government-run shelters and schools in three districts of Andhra Pradesh state and five districts of Orissa state.

People in the coastal village of Podampata watch as waves gather force

But many villagers said they had not been told to evacuate, and others were refusing to leave their homes.

"Of course I'm scared, but where will I move with my family?" said Kuramayya, 38, a fisherman from the village of Bandharuvanipeta, while 12ft waves crashed behind him. "We can't leave our boats behind."

Satellite images showed Phailin some 310 miles (500km) off the coast and likely to make landfall on tonight (3pm-6pm UK time), with widespread flooding expected.

Some forecasters likened its size and intensity to hurricane Katrina, which devastated the US Gulf coast and New Orleans in 2005.

The Indian Meteorological Department said Phailin would hit between Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and the port of Paradip in Odisha state and predicted storm surges 10ft above normal tides.

The storm is due to hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Pic: Tropical Storm Risk

It described it as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with winds of 130-135 mph but resisted upgrading it to a stronger "super cyclone".

However, London-based storm tracking experts Tropical Storm Risk said Phailin was a super cyclone and placed it in the most powerful Category 5 of storms.

That was the same strength of storm that battered Odisha in 1999, killing thousands.

"Phailin will be no less than the 1999 super cyclone," said Odisha state's Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra.

He said half a million people were expected to move to shelters in the state.

Indian authorities warned of extensive damage to crops and buildings, and disruption to power, water and rail services.

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Lampedusa: 27 Migrants Dead In Latest Sinking

At least 27 people are said to have died and 221 people saved after a migrant boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat revealed the number of casualties, three of them children, while the Italian navy said it had rescued 221 from the water in a joint Italian-Maltese operation.

Coastguard spokesman Marco Di Milla said they received a satellite phone call from the boat that was in distress and were able to locate it based on the satellite coordinates.

The Italian navy and Maltese armed forces rescued survivors

A Maltese aircraft was sent up and reported that the boat had capsized and that "numerous" people were in the water.

The aircraft dropped a life raft, and a patrol boat soon arrived at the scene, according to a statement from the Maltese armed forces.

Around 221 people were pulled from the water

The incident comes just over a week after a boat carrying African asylum seekers caught fire and sank off Lampedusa, killing up to 350 people.

The deaths have prompted renewed calls for the European Union to do more to better patrol the southern Mediterranean and prevent such tragedies - and for countries like Libya to crack down on smuggling operations.

It is the second migrant vessel to sink off Lampedusa in just over a week

"We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a cemetery," Mr Muscat told a news conference in Valletta, the Maltese capital.

Residents of the remote southern Italian island have long complained that they have been left alone to deal with the thousands of migrants who come ashore each year from Africa and the Middle East.

Up to 350 people died after another boat caught fire and sank last week

Some 30,000 migrants have flocked to Italy so far this year. An estimated 17,000 to 20,000 have died while crossing the Mediterranean during the past 20 years on overcrowded fishing boats or rubber dinghies, seeking a better life in Europe.

Eritrea, Somalia and Syria are the main countries of origin and the majority of arrivals are on Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost point which is closer to north Africa than to the Italian mainland.

During a visit to Lampedusa this week, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso promised Italy some 30 million euro in EU funds to better care for newly arrived migrants.

Italian officials pledged to put the issue on the agenda of an upcoming European Union summit and on the EU agenda next year, when Italy and Greece hold the EU presidencies.

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US Shutdown: No Decision After Budget Talks

The US President and Republican leaders remain at odds over how to end the partial government shutdown or whether to raise the nation's debt limit.

Barack Obama met 20 House Republicans, including Speaker John Boehner, at the White House for talks lasting about 90 minutes.

No specific agreement was reached, although a White House spokesman said the President "looks forward to continued progress with members on both sides".

A Republican spokesman described the meeting as "useful and productive".

The talks came after Mr Boehner proposed a six-week extension to the US debt ceiling in return for the President's promise to negotiate over budget issues including the health care plan dubbed Obamacare.

Mr Boehner wants the President to negotiative over the US budget

It would have allowed the US government to borrow money until November 22, potentially averting an unprecedented federal default that could occur as early as October 17.

Negotiations will continue over the length of the proposed increase, a senior House Republican aide told the Reuters news agency.

Speaking before the meeting, Mr Boehner said: "It's time for leadership. It's time for these negotiations and this conversation to begin.

"What we want to do is to offer the President today the ability to move a temporary increase in the debt ceiling in agreement to go to conference on the budget."

The Treasury Department has said it would be unable to pay all of its bills if the $16.7 trillion (£10.4 trillion) debt ceiling is not raised before next Thursday.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has warned that US failure to raise its debt ceiling would cause serious harm to the global economy.

The shutdown began after Congress failed to pass a bill to temporarily fund the federal government, resulting in hundreds of thousands of federal employees stopping work.

The measure is normally routine but has become entangled in Republican demands for delays or amendments to Mr Obama's health care overhaul and reduced government spending.

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White Widow's Links To Kenyan Mall Attack Group

Sky News has obtained a report by Kenyan intelligence officers which places the British wife of a London 7/7 bomber at the centre of a terror cell operating from Mombasa.

The document suggests 29-year-old Samantha Lewthwaite, also known as the "white widow", is involved with plotting attacks on UN facilities, the Kenyan parliament and other high profile institutions for al Shaabab.

The organisation claimed responsibility for last month's attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, which killed at least 67 people.

Sky News has also obtained handwritten pages from Ms Lewthwaite's journal.

:: Watch Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford's video report on the world's most wanted woman above.

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US Suspends Millions In Aid To Egypt Military

The United States is suspending the handover of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid and support to Egypt's military.

The US government said it was "recalibrating" its $1.3bn (£0.8bn) annual aid to Egypt, putting on hold the delivery of large military systems and withholding some of its cash assistance.

"Large-scale military systems and cash assistance to the government," would be frozen, a spokesman said, "pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections."

In recent weeks the country has been hit by intensifying violence, which follows the toppling of elected president Mohamed Morsi.

Hundreds have been killed during demonstrations, the vast majority of whom were supporters of Morsi.

The move by the US raises expectations that the Obama administration will describe Morsi's ousting as a coup. 

Under US law it is illegal to fund a regime that has taken power as a result of a military coup.

Many have claimed the overthrow of Morsi was a coup because it appeared to have taken place with the support of Egypt's powerful military.

It also involved the removal of a democratically elected leader, and his replacement with a non-elected ruler whose appointment was announced by the military.

Egypt's military has been funded with aid since the Camp David Accord in 1978, which was seen as a crucial move in the promotion of peace in the Middle East.

The amount it receives is second only to the amount received by Israel, which was also a signatory to the accord.

Egypt uses much of its aid to order US-made defence equipment such as Apache helicopters and F-16 warplanes.

The spokesman did not say exactly how much of the aid would be suspended, but among the shipments delayed would be one for a number of MA-1 Abrams tanks and Apache attack helicopters placed on order four years ago.

Egypt will still receive crucial spare parts for certain military equipment and training for the country's armed forces will continue, officials said.

The US will also continue to provide aid that helps "secure Egypt's borders" and bolsters "counterterrorism" and "security in the Sinai."

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Apple 'Tight-Lipped' Over New iPad Release

Apple is staying tight-lipped over rumours that a new iPad release is imminent.

Speculation has heightened after respected technology site All Things D suggested an October 22 unveiling.

It said insiders are hinting at a thinner, lighter design, along with a better camera, and a new A7 processor - as seen in the iPhone 5S.

The iPad Mini is also said to be getting a higher quality 'retina' display.

However, true to form for the technology giant, an Apple spokesman based in London refused to comment on the speculation.

"We don't discuss future products, we have not disclosed anything," he said.

Apple will be hoping any new products can help it stem growing sales of cheaper Android-powered tablets, such as Google's Nexus 7.

The technology giant also updated its iPhone range last month, showing off a new flagship iPhone 5 model and launching a slightly cheaper, multi-coloured 5C version.

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Syria Chemical Weapons Mission Strengthened

A second team of inspectors will be deployed to destroy Syria's poison gas stockpile, the world's chemical weapons watchdog has said, as the UN chief warned of the "dangerous and volatile" conditions experts faced in the country.

Ahmet Uzumcu, Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, confirmed that Syria was co-operating with the joint United Nations and OPCW disarmament mission.

It normally takes years to complete the destruction of a country's chemical weapons arsenal.

The watchdog has until the end of the June 2014 to complete the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal under the terms of a Russia-US brokered agreement, after a toxic gas attack near Damascus on August 21 in which hundreds died.

A range of items was also being destroyed "towards the goal of rendering unusable all production facilities and mixing and filling equipment by 1 November of this year", Mr Uzumcu said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon highlighted the threat to the experts

"These developments present a constructive beginning for what will nonetheless be a long and difficult process," he added.

Earlier, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon set out a blueprint for the most dangerous disarmament operation ever staged, as rebels launched a major offensive in northwest Syria - highlighting the looming threats to inspectors.

The 11-page letter was Mr Ban's required response to the resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council on September 27, ordering Syria's chemical weapons stockpile be secured and destroyed.

Mr Ban said the experts "will seek to conduct an operation the likes of which, quite simply, have never been tried before".

He said: "The timelines associated with this destruction phase would be ambitious under the most peaceful and benign of circumstances."

Gas canisters in Syria's chemical arsenal

The experts will have to work in "dangerous and volatile" conditions, particularly in urban areas such as Damascus, Homs and Aleppo, the UN leader said.

"Heavy artillery, air strikes, mortar barrages and the indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas are commonplace, and battle lines shift quickly," he added.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who were both at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Bali, used the opportunity to discuss the disarmament.

Mr Putin said both countries had "a common understanding of what needs to be done", adding that he believed inspectors would be able to accomplish their goal of ridding Syria of its chemical arms within a year.

"We and the Americans, the whole international community trust them," he said.

UN weapons inspectors at the site of the August 21 attack

"If they are saying it is possible to do this (eliminate Syria's chemical arms) in one year, then that's the way it is," he said.

Mr Putin, who has been a staunch ally of President Bashar al Assad, also praised the Syrian government - which remains responsible for the actual destruction of the chemicals - for its co-operation.

"The doubts regarding the readiness of the Syrian leadership to adequately respond to the decisions on chemical weapons proved to be unjustified," he said.

"Syria has joined these efforts actively, is acting very transparently ... and I hope this work will continue further at the same pace and in the same direction."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the situation in Syria remained "catastrophic" for civilians, but the weapons mission "was an important step forward".

In a statement to MPs in the House of Commons, he said British nationals who work for the OPCW were part of an advance team of 35 personnel from the watchdog and UN already in Damascus.

On Sunday, Syrians - under the supervision of the OPCW and supported by the UN - began to destroy the weapons.

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Argentina: President Kirchner Has Surgery

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is in "good spirits" after having an operation to remove a blood clot from beneath her skull.

Presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said: "It went very well. The president is in good spirits and is already in her room."

The 60-year-old is recovering and has thanked doctors and her supporters, he added.

Doctors said Ms Kirchner's condition was "evolving favourably".

Hundreds of well-wishers cheered as they received news of the successful operation.

Some had waited through the night outside the Fundacion Favaloro hospital, many carrying signs and clutching Christian statues.

The president was initially ordered to rest for a month on Saturday after a subdural haematoma was discovered.

But doctors decided to operate after she complained of tingling and a temporary loss of muscle strength in her left arm late on Sunday.

Well-wishers leave messages of support

The procedure - which involves drilling small holes through the skull to remove the trapped fluid and ease pressure on the brain - is considered to be low risk.

In a statement before the operation, Ms Kirchner's doctors attributed the injury to a still unexplained blow to her head on August 12.

AFP news agency reports Ms Kirchner was injured in a fall.

Mr Scoccimarro said that tests had "showed nothing" at the time of the injury, which was not disclosed at the time.

But on Saturday, Ms Kirchner went to hospital for checks on an irregular heartbeat, and because she was suffering headaches they carried out further tests and found the haematoma.

A banner of support outside the Buenos Aires hospital

Ms Kirchner's medical drama comes at a politically fraught moment, with only three weeks until legislative elections in which she hopes to retain control of Congress in the middle of her final term.

Vice President Amado Boudou has pledged to keep the government running, though he has not officially assumed the presidency.

A figure of controversy, Mr Boudou is under investigation for alleged corruption and currently has one of the worst images among Argentinian politicians.

Some opposition candidates have raised concerns over the uncertainty surrounding Ms Kirchner's medical condition.

"There is missing information," Jose Ignacio de Mendiguren told Radio La Red. "We should be getting more information about the seriousness of the issue."

Argentina's first democratically-elected female leader has had several health concerns while in office.

In January 2012, less than a month into her second term, Ms Kirchner underwent surgery to remove her thyroid gland only to be told that she had been mistakenly diagnosed with cancer.

Mr Boudou is under investigation for alleged corruption

But news of Ms Kirchner's latest ailment caught Argentina by surprise.

She showed no hint of ill-health in the weeks following the fall, maintaining a busy schedule and trips to Paraguay, Russia and the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

It is not unusual for symptoms of a chronic subdural haematoma to take weeks to appear, and many patients do not even recall injuring their heads.

Symptoms can include confusion, decreased memory, difficulty speaking and walking, drowsiness, headaches, and weakness or numbness in the arms, leg or face.

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Malaria Vaccine 'Could Be Widespread By 2015'

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

The world's first malaria vaccine could be in widespread use within two years following "significant" results from an ongoing clinical trial.

Researchers have reported at a malaria conference in Durban, South Africa, that the jab continues to protect a substantial proportion of babies and young children 18 months after vaccination.

The mosquito-borne disease kills around 660,000 people every year, most of them children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which makes the vaccine, said that it will apply for a licence from the European Medicines Agency next year.

If the vaccine - code-named RTS,S - is confirmed to be safe and effective, the World Health Organisation has indicated that it will support use of the vaccine as soon as 2015.

A South Sudanese man with his daughter, who is being treated for malaria

GSK has vowed to sell the vaccine at cost price plus 5%, which it said would fund further research into tropical diseases.

The new results are from a study of 15,000 babies and children in seven African countries.

They show the vaccine is far from perfect, but still offers significant protection.

Eighteen months after a three-dose vaccination programme, young children were 46% less likely to suffer clinical malaria.

For every 1,000 children vaccinated, 21 cases of severe malaria were prevented, according to the results.

The vaccine was less effective in babies. Infants who had the jabs when they were just a few weeks old were 27% less likely to suffer from malaria.

Scientists will now investigate whether a booster dose can increase protection in the longer term.

Halidou Tinto, one of the study's principle investigators, said the vaccine had "the potential to have a significant public health impact".

"Many millions of malaria cases fill the wards of our hospitals," Dr Tinto said.

"Progress is being made with bed nets and other measures, but we need more tools to battle this terrible disease."

British pharmaceutical company GSK makes the vaccine

GSK chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said: "While we have seen some decline in vaccine efficacy over time, the sheer number of children affected by malaria means that the number of cases of the disease the vaccine can help prevent is impressive.

"These data support our decision to submit a regulatory application for the vaccine candidate which, if successful, would bring us a step closer to having an additional tool to fight this deadly disease."

The development of the jab has been jointly funded by GSK and Bill and Melinda Gates through the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

Professor Eleanor Riley from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said if the vaccine is cheap enough it has huge potential.

"It would be great if the vaccine had 80-90% efficacy," she told Sky News.

"But it has taken us 15 years to get this far with this vaccine.

"The question is: can we wait another 15 years before we roll out a vaccine that is going to save lives?"

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Syria Inspectors 'Face Unprecedented Danger'

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that inspectors face a year-long mission of unprecedented danger in trying to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

But as Mr Ban set out a blueprint for the most dangerous disarmament operation ever staged, rebels launched a major offensive.

The assault in northwest Syria highlighted the looming threats to inspectors from the joint United Nations and Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission.

In a letter to the Security Council, Mr Ban said the experts "will seek to conduct an operation the likes of which, quite simply, have never been tried before."

It normally takes years to complete the destruction of a country's chemical weapons arsenal.

Mr Ban highlighted the threat to the experts and Syrian civilians

Mr Ban said: "The joint mission will be expected to support, monitor and verify the destruction of a complex chemical weapons programme involving multiple sites spread over a country engulfed in violent conflict.

"The timelines associated with this destruction phase would be ambitious under the most peaceful and benign of circumstances."

The 11-page letter was Mr Ban's required response to the resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council on September 27, ordering Syria's chemical weapons stockpile be secured and destroyed.

After months of diplomatic sparring, Russia and the United States agreed to work together to disarm Syria after a toxic gas attack near Damascus on August 21 in which hundreds died.

Mr Ban said an advance team of 35 personnel from the OPCW and UN have already arrived in Damascus.

On Sunday, Syrians - under the supervision of the OPCW and supported by the UN - began to destroy the weapons.

Gas canisters in Syria's chemical arsenal

They used "cutting torches and angle grinders to destroy or disable a range of materials, including missile warheads, aerial bombs and mixing and filling equipment," Mr Ban said.

"I welcome this historic step, and urge all parties to do their part to ensure that this encouraging progress is maintained and indeed accelerated," he said.

Mr Ban highlighted the threat to the experts and Syrian civilians from the sarin, mustard gas and other chemical weapons which will have to be moved amid ongoing fighting across the country.

The experts will have to work in "dangerous and volatile" conditions, particularly in urban areas such as Damascus, Homs and Aleppo, the UN leader said.

"Heavy artillery, air strikes, mortar barrages and the indiscriminate shelling of civilians areas are commonplace and battle lines shift quickly," he added.

UN weapons inspectors at the site of the August 21 attack

Two mortars landed near the Damascus hotel the team is using just before they arrived last week.

Mr Ban added that roadside bombs "have detonated in close proximity" to the inspectors.

"My two highest priorities are the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons programme and the safety and security of joint mission personnel who have volunteered to perform this vital but dangerous task," he said.

Under the Russia-US timetable, the experts will then have until the end of June to supervise the transport and destruction of the chemicals.

The Syrian government remains responsible for the destruction activities however.

Western countries blame Assad's forces for the August 21 chemical attack near Damascus which the United States says left more than 1,400 dead. The government and Russia accuse opposition rebels of having carried out the attack.

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Egypt: Dozens Dead After Pro-Morsi Protests

At least 50 people have been killed in Egypt in clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The figure, from a health ministry official, comes as Morsi supporters protested in several cities during army celebrations to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Hundreds of people are also reported to have been wounded.

Journalist Bel Trew, in Cairo, told Sky News the military had been expecting the unrest and described seeing "chaotic side street clashes with lots of gunfire and tear gas".

She added: "There's quite a lot of anger here toward the Morsi supporters by local residents and those who wanted to go to the streets to celebrate their military on this day that Egyptians regard as one of the most proud moments of their history.

"What we're looking at is rival protests on the streets together."

A heavy security presence with tanks and armoured vehicles gathered in Cairo to try to deter the protesters, said Trew.

Supporters of Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement had tried to get close to Tahrir Square, where in the past thousands have set up camp in protest against the army's coup.

Protesters in Cairo

But security forces guarded entrances to the square, frisking people arriving for the celebrations.

Mr Morsi, who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, was removed from office in July.

Since then, the military-backed government of General Abdel Fatah al Sisi has cracked down on members of the Brotherhood.

Hundreds of Mr Morsi's supporters were allegedly killed in August as protest camps were cleared, while the government said around 100 members of the security forces also died.

Away from the main squares, Cairo's streets were largely deserted on Sunday, a public holiday to commemorate the October War, known as the Yom Kippur War in Israel.

The conflict is remembered proudly by the Egyptian army because it caught Israel by surprise and led to the recovery of the Sinai Peninsula in a 1979 peace treaty.

Supporters of the Army regime waved flags as warplanes flew over Cairo in a show of force and patriotic songs boomed out from loudspeakers.

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Theresa May Faces Quiz Over Terror Suspect

Home Secretary Theresa May is to be questioned by MPs over why one of the world's most wanted al Qaeda terror suspects - captured by US Navy SEALs - was given asylum in Britain.

Anas al Libi, who was seized at the weekend in the Libyan capital Tripoli, arrived in Britain in the mid-1990s and lived in Manchester after being granted political asylum, according to reports.

The 49-year-old was accused by the US of involvement in the 1998 American embassy bombings in east Africa which killed more than 220 people.

Al Libi, also known as Nazih Abdul Hamed al Ruqai, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police the following year but was released and later fled Britain.

Detectives are believed to have found an al Qaeda manual at his home which advised Osama bin Laden's followers on how to execute terror plots.

Theresa May will come under pressure to answer the concerns next Tuesday

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the case would be raised with Mrs May when she appears before MPs.

In a statement, the Labour MP said: "This case raises serious questions about the motives behind asylum and national security decisions in the UK.

"It is not the first time that someone, who has been brought to the attention of the authorities and released, has gone on to be linked to further terrorist activity.

"I will be raising these concerns with the Home Secretary when she appears before the Committee on the 15th October."

Al Libi was on the FBI's Most Wanted list and there was a $5m (£3.1m) bounty on his head.

US prosecutors claimed the computer expert aided the east Africa bombings by carrying out research and taking photographs of the embassy in Nairobi in 1993.

The US suspects al Libi of being an al Qaeda leader

His family have denied he was ever a member of al Qaeda but was part of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an Islamic militant group opposed to Muammar Gaddafi.

Many of the organisation's members were forced to flee the country, and al Libi is believed to have spent time in Sudan in the 1990s before moving to Britain.

His son, Abdullah al Ruqai, said his father had hired a lawyer and was trying to clear his name in connection to the 1998 embassy attacks.

"My father is not objecting to be tried but he should be tried in Libya in front of a Libyan court," he said.

Meanwhile, Libya's government has asked for an explanation from the US after the American forces seized al Libi from Tripoli and whisked him out of the country.

The US Defence Department's chief spokesman, George Little, said the suspect was being "lawfully detained under the law of war in a secure location outside of Libya".

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Al Shabaab: US Forces Strike In Somalia

US forces have staged a pre-dawn raid against a senior al Shabaab leader in Somalia who has links to last month's attack on a Nairobi shopping mall.

A Navy SEAL team slipped ashore near a southern Somalia town before the al Qaeda-linked militants rose for dawn prayers.

The raid on a house in the town of Barawa targeted a specific al Qaeda suspect related to last month's Kenya mall attack.

A US military official told the Associated Press that the raid did not capture its target. No military personnel were injured or killed in the attack.

The operation marked the most significant US assault in Somalia since commandos killed key al Qaeda operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in the same area four years ago.

It followed an attack by al Shabaab gunmen on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that left 67 people dead during a four-day siege.

One of the gunmen in the Kenyan shopping centre attack

"US personnel took all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties in this operation and disengaged after inflicting some Shabaab casualties," the official said.

Declining to identify the people who died, the official said that "even in these extreme operational circumstances, the US military is very cautious to minimise civilian casualties".

The al Qaeda-linked Shabaab had earlier claimed it was British and Turkish special forces that staged a night-time sea and air attack on one of its bases, but Britain denied any involvement.

Leaders of the Islamist insurgents in the southern Somali port of Barawa said commandos rappelled from a helicopter and tried to storm a house belonging to a senior Shabaab commander, but the assault failed.

Al Shabaab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told AFP that commandos had stormed the beach by boat, but laid blamed on Britain and Turkey.

"The bungled operation was carried out by white people, who came with two small boats from a larger ship out at sea ... one Shabaab guard was killed, but reinforcements soon came and the foreigners fled," he said.

"Where the foreigners had been, afterwards we saw lots of blood, so maybe we wounded some."

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Kenya Mall Massacre Gunmen Are Named

Four of the gunmen involved in the Kenya mall attack have been named, as police say the number who took part is fewer than first thought.

A Kenyan military spokesman gave their names as Abu Baara al Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al Kene and Umayr.

The men all died in the attack that began on September 21, say officials.

Al Qaeda-linked Somali-based militant group al Shabaab said it carried out the gun and grenade assault in retaliation for Kenya's military operations inside Somalia.

Al Sudani, from Sudan, was the leader of the group inside the mall and had been trained by al Qaeda, said Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir.

Abu Baara al Sudani is said to have been the group's leader

He was described as "an experienced fighter and sharpshooter".

Nabhan, a Kenyan of Arab origin, was born in Mombasa and travelled to Somalia with his uncle at the age of 16, said the spokesman.

The third attacker, Al Kene, is said to be Somali from the capital Mogadishu, and is linked to al Shabaab Islamist militants, Major Chirchir said.

Omar Nabhan was born in Kenya and travelled to Somalia as a teenager

The other names of the fourth attacker, Umayr, as well as his nationality and history were "not yet identified", he said.

Al Kene and Umayr are known members of al Hijra, a Kenyan extremist group affiliated with al Shabaab, according to Matt Bryden, former head of the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia.

At least 67 people were killed in September's assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre.

New video has also emerged showing the four named gunmen during the siege.

Khattab al Kene is being linked with an al Shabaab-affiliated group

It shows the heavily-armed attackers walking through a storeroom in the mall and searching other adjacent rooms. 

It is understood that the CCTV pictures captured the gunmen mid-way through the assault - as many of the victims remained terrified and trapped inside the mall.

Kenya's government initially said 10 to 15 attackers were involved in the assault but police now believe between four to six people took part.

Umayr's nationality and history have not yet been identified

"From what we have now that is coming out of the investigation, the number of attackers was between four to six," police chief David Kimaiyo told Kenyan television station KTN.

"None of them managed to escape from the building after the attack," he said.

Kimaiyo also confirmed that wanted British "White Widow" Samantha Lewthwaite - reported to have been one of the attackers - was not involved.

He said: "On Samantha we have also established that she was not part of the attackers in the building. There was no woman."

Al Shabaab has promised more attacks inside Kenya unless the country's troops are withdrawn.

Some of the mall complex collapsed during the three-day siege

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has vowed to continue the military mission inside Somalia despite the mall attack.

Mr Kenyatta ordered a commission of inquiry into the attack. The Red Cross says a further 39 people are still unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, Somali al Shabaab militants have claimed foreign forces raided one of its bases in the early hours of Saturday and attacked a house.

Forces landed on the beach at Barawe -110 miles south of Mogadishu - and a gunfight ensued, a spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations, told the Reuters news agency.

Sky's correspondent Alex Crawford said she had spoken to a "high-level source" in Somalia who said he believed it was carried out by American forces.

Pentagon spokesman George Little declined to comment on whether US forces had taken part in the alleged raid.

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