The United States said on Thursday that it was very much concerned about "terrorist elements" in Somalia who were linked to groups outside of the country.

U.S. embassies in Kenya and Ethiopia will consider what further protective action, if any, should be taken, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a news briefing.

McCormack made the remarks when U.S. embassies in Ethiopia and Kenya warned in a message to American citizens on Thursday that Kenya and Ethiopia could be targets of suicide attacks by "extremist elements" from Somalia, where Islamists control the capital and other areas.

Truck bombs exploded at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans.

Washington has urged neighboring countries of Somalia, which has been without a functioning central administration since 1991, to play a positive role to reduce the growing tensions in Somalia.

The Islamic Court, which controls the capital, Mogadishu, and most of southern Somalia, accused Ethiopia of sending troops to back the interim government in Somalia that opposes the Islamists.

Source: Xinhua