American bombs from Jets landed on civilians in Somalia

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Days after President Donald Trump eased restrictions on the use of air power in Somalia,Amnesty International has accused the US military of causing civilian casualties in a series of airstrikes in Somalia claims the US military denies.

The report, released on Wednesday by Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on human rights, said the incidents it investigated “may have violated international humanitarian law and could, in some cases, constitute war crimes.”

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Amnesty chose to investigate four U.S. incidents in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region and a fifth incident which it claims was “most plausibly caused by a U.S. airstrike” that took place between 2017 and 2019. The strikes represent only a small fraction of the more than 100 American airstrikes that have taken place in that country in the last several years.

In its review of the five incidents, Amnesty alleges that 14 civilians were killed either because they were near a U.S. military target, like a vehicle, or mistakenly identified as al-Shabaab. The group interviewed 65 witnesses and survivors from the five incidents, as well as an additional 77 individuals connected to other alleged U.S. strikes not detailed in the report.

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“Our assessments found that no AFRICOM airstrike resulted in any civilian casualty or injury. Our assessments are based on post-strike analysis using intelligence methods not available to non-military organizations,” the statement added.
Africa Command said that many of the allegations involved claims made by media outlets affiliated with Al-Shabaab, and that “it is in the interest of the terrorist group al-Shabaab to untruthfully claim civilian casualties. It is also in the interest of al-Shabaab to coerce community members to make untrue claims.”

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Maj. Gen. Gregg Olson, Africa Command director of operations, said in a conference call with reporters, “I’m not going to go into the specifics of the sources and methods that we use to characterize targets but I will tell you that it is a process that unfolds over time as we look at things like pattern of life, as we look at things like all source intelligence and then fuse together a picture that provides us a standard that is appropriate under international humanitarian law. And that accounts for the information available at the site before any decision to strike is made.”

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There has been a significant increase in US airstrikes in Somalia since Trump authorized the military to carry out precision strikes targeting Al-Shabaab in March 2017 in an effort to bolster the Somali government. Prior to that, the US military was authorized to conduct airstrikes only in defense of advisers on the ground.
At least 252 fighters from the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab have been killed in 28 airstrikes so far in 2019, with no civilian deaths, according to figures released by US Africa Command.

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The most recent strike took place Tuesday in the vicinity of Awdheegle, Lower Shabelle Region, and killed three “terrorists,” according to a statement Tuesday by Africa Command.
The statement said the US military was aware of reports alleging civilian casualties from Tuesday’s airstrike and that as with every allegation, Africa Command “will review any information it has about the incident, including any relevant information provided by third parties.”

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In 2018, the US conducted 47 airstrikes targeting Al-Shabaab, killing about 338 militants. In 2017, the US carried out 35 airstrikes, and in 2016 it conducted 15.
US defense officials have told CNN that the recent increase in the pace of strikes is due to successes that local Somali security forces have been having in combating Al-Shabaab.

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