17″ October “2022” Aljazeera
The United States redeployed its ground troops in small numbers to Somalia in May 2022, but its air war has been going on for much longer. For 12 years, the US denied any civilian casualties from air attacks, admitting just five deaths so far. In this episode, we hear from three people who uncovered the reality of the civilian death toll and laid the disconnect bare
In this episode:
- Mohamed Osman Abdi (@mohamedosma4), Somali journalist
- Abdullahi Hassan (@abdullahisom1), Amnesty International researcher
- Chris Woods (@chrisjwoods), founder of Airwars
Episode credits:
This episode was updated by Alexandra Locke. The original production team was Alexandra Locke, Amy Walters, Priyanka Tilve, Ney Alvarez, Dina Kesbeh, Natalia Aldana, Stacey Samuel, Graelyn Brashear, and Kevin Hirten in for Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is the sound designer. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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USA/Somalia: Shroud of secrecy around civilian deaths masks possible war crimes
- Forensic investigation yields credible evidence 14 civilians were killed in just five strikes
- More than 100 strikes by US drones and manned aircraft since early 2017
- Strikes in Somalia tripled under Trump, outpacing Yemen and Libya combined
The US government must carry out impartial, thorough investigations into credible evidence its rapidly escalating air strikes in Somalia have killed numerous civilians, Amnesty International said in a new report today.
The Hidden US War in Somalia details how 14 civilians were killed and eight more injured in just five of the more than 100 strikes in the past two years. These five incidents were carried out with Reaper drones and manned aircraft in Lower Shabelle, a region largely under Al-Shabaab control outside the Somali capital Mogadishu. The attacks appear to have violated international humanitarian law, and some may amount to war crimes.
When approached with Amnesty International’s findings, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) repeated its denial that any civilians have been killed in its operations in Somalia.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA