The silent side of the war on terror

When a handful of Brits were killed in US bombing raids on Islamist militants in Somalia, it wasn't just another tragic case of collateral damage: Secret SAS mission to Somalia uncovers British terror cells

Terrorist sleeper cells said to be planning attacks in the UK have been unmasked after the bodies of Britons killed in US bombing raids in Somalia were identified by a top-secret SAS mission.

The four British men were among an estimated 400 people killed in a series of American air raids on Al Qaeda training camps in the war-torn East African state in January.

In March, British and US special-forces troops were secretly sent back into the region to take DNA samples from the exhumed remains of more than 50 of those killed during the attacks.

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The DNA samples were processed on a US aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea and the results sent to the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Washington DC.

MI5 is understood to have used the samples to identify four British men killed in the US attacks. Their relatives and friends have now been put under covert surveillance in the hope of identifying further terror cells in the UK.

The unanswered (and unasked) question here is this: to what do they match the DNA samples? Where and how was DNA gathered from these guys earlier to match against?

In any event, a fascinating look at the lengths to which American and British special operators are going to roll up the bad guys.