Residents of a southern Somali town staged an anti-American protest Tuesday, a day after the town was hit by a U.S. missile strike aimed at a suspected terrorist.

Reports from the town of Dobley say hundreds of people took to the streets shouting anti-American slogans.

U.S. naval forces off the Somali coast fired at least two Tomahawk missiles into the town early on Monday.  The Pentagon said the attack was against a "known al-Qaida terrorist."

U.S. newspaper reports identify the target as Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.  Nabhan is a Kenyan wanted by the FBI for questioning in connection with the 2002 attacks in Mombasa, Kenya against a hotel and an Israeli airliner.

The fate of the target remains unclear.  Residents of Dobley say the attack destroyed a house, and the local mayor says several people were killed.  Other residents say there were no deaths, only injuries.

U.S. officials are concerned that Somalia has become a breeding ground and hiding place for al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

The country's government has been fighting an Islamist insurgency since the start of 2007.

Islamists briefly ruled much of Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by an offensive by the government and allied Ethiopian troops.

Somalia has been mired in chaos since the overthrow of the country's last stable, functioning government in 1991.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.