Al-Shabaab fighters
© UnknownAl-Shabab fighters. Useful patsies of the US one day, enemies the next.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has defended Washington's recent military operations in Libya and Somalia for targeting terrorists.

"We hope that this makes clear that the United States of America will never stop in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror," he said on Sunday.

Kerry is in the Indonesian island of Bali to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

He added that the operations showed that "those members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations literally can run, but they can't hide."

He was referring to attacks by US Special Forces on several targets in Somalia and Libya.

Abu Anas al-Liby, a militant and al-Qaeda operative, was seized on Saturday as he was allegedly involved in attacks against US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 15 years ago.

"Abu Anas al-Liby is currently lawfully detained by the US military in a secure location outside of Libya," Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Saturday.

In a similar attack, US forces killed several al-Shabab militants after they raided the seaside residence of a commander of the militant group in Somalia's town of Baraawe. They failed to capture the commander.

"We will continue to try and bring people to justice in the appropriate way with hopes that ultimately these kinds of activities against everybody in the world will stop," Kerry said.