‘The hidden war’..US accused of killing civilians in Somalia by airstrikes

Image result for US military accused causing civilian deaths in Somalia

The US military have been accused by Amnesty International of civilian killings on Tuesday in a series of airstrikes in Somalia in 2017 and 2018.

The investigation, entitled The Hidden War in Somalia, investigated five out of a total of 100 US airstrikes carried out by Reaper drones and manned aircraft in the Lower Shabelle region outside the capital Mogadishu.

The region remains largely under the control of the extremist group al-Shabab, which has remained the primary target of the United States’ Africa Command (AFRICOM) since 2007. 

Image result for US military accused causing civilian deaths in Somalia

The rights group collected evidence from 150 in-person interviews or encrypted voice calls placed from outside al-Shabab controlled territory including with eyewitnesses, relatives of victims and experts within the US military and also analyzed satellite imagery as part of its investigation.

Amnesty International says the attacks appear to violate international humanitarian law and has called on the US government to “carry out impartial, thorough investigations” based on the report’s findings. 

Image result for US military accused causing civilian deaths in Somalia

While Africa Command acknowledged conducting strikes in four of the locations and times identified in the report, it said it had reviewed the allegations and found the targets to have been affiliated with Al-Shabaab.

US Africa Command, which oversees US military operations on the continent, firmly rejected the allegations, saying it has made efforts to ensure the safety of civilians and that it had reviewed the allegations and found no evidence to support them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *