Amnesty says there’s evidence civilians were killed or wounded in Somalia by US air strikes

An international human rights group on Tuesday provided evidence stating that US military airstrikes in Somalia have killed or wounded nearly two dozen civilians in the past two years.

US Africa Command officials immediately refuted the allegations laid out in a report by Amnesty International, and maintained that the military has investigated 18 cases of likely civilian casualties since 2017 and found that none were credible.

This came in after a Somali intelligence official and two local residents said a US drone strike on Monday killed civilians.

Read also: Mozambique President fears Cyclone killed more than 1,000

Amnesty International said it examined satellite imagery and other data, after interviewing 65 witnesses and survivors of five detailed airstrikes shown in the report.

The report reads in part:

“Amnesty International’s research points to a failure by the US and Somali governments to adequately investigate allegations of civilian casualties resulting from US operations in Somalia.”

US Africa Command who looked at the five strikes, said there were no civilian casualties while US defence officials concluded that American troops were on the ground at strike locations in a very limited number of cases.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now