March 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military attacked an al- Qaeda leader in Somalia as an Islamic-led insurgency spreads in the East African country's factional fighting.

``On March 2, the U.S. conducted an attack against a known al-Qaeda terrorist in southern Somalia,'' Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for the Defense Department, told reporters at the Pentagon today. He declined to give details, including the identity of the target, whether the individual was killed and what kinds of weapons were used.

The strike was in line with U.S. policy ``to pursue terrorist activities and their operations wherever we may find them,'' Whitman said. ``We do work closely with our partners in the region in the conduct of our military operations.''

The attack was the fourth such U.S. assault in Somalia in the past 14 months. The country has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. The conflict in Somalia escalated in February, according to the International Crisis Group.

Fighting and roadside bombs in the capital Mogadishu killed at least 20 people, and the compound of President Abdullahi Yusuf was the target of shelling, the Brussels-based conflict- monitoring organization said in a March 1 report.

``Targeted assassination of officials continued with up to 10 killed,'' the group said.

Peacekeepers

The United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia last month as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon resisted calls for UN troops because of the persistent violence.

The country is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the 166-kilometer (104-mile) Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

The Associated Press, reporting from Mogadishu, said today that three missiles hit Dobley, a town four miles from the Kenyan border. The remnants of an Islamic force that once ruled much of southern Somalia took over the town last week, the AP said. The U.S. attack destroyed a home and injured eight people, the AP said, citing police and witnesses.

Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the U.S. will ``go after al-Qaeda and al- Qaeda-affiliated operatives wherever we find them.'' They are ``plotting and planning all over the world'' to destabilize and ``inflict terror,'' he said.

The U.S. conducted air strikes against suspected al-Qaeda targets in Somalia twice in January 2007, according to the AP and Washington Post, and a Navy destroyer shelled a similar target in June, according to CNN.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tony Capaccio at acapaccio@bloomberg.net; Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 3, 2008 15:29 EST