WASHINGTON — The Pentagon acknowledged on Monday that an American army strike in Somalia greater than a 12 months in the past killed two civilians
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon acknowledged on Monday that an American army strike in Somalia greater than a 12 months in the past killed two civilians and injured three extra.
The announcement, by United States Africa Command, was a uncommon acknowledgment from the army of civilian casualties in its marketing campaign towards the Shabab extremist group in Somalia.
“Regrettably two civilians had been killed and three others injured in a February 2019 airstrike,” Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, Africa Command’s prime officer, mentioned in a quarterly evaluation report by the army on allegations of civilian casualties. “We’re deeply sorry this occurred.”
For years, Africa Command had maintained that no civilians had been killed in American airstrikes and raids in Somalia, disputing expenses from human rights organizations that President Trump’s choice to loosen up guidelines for stopping civilian casualties throughout American counterterrorism operations had led to extra civilian casualties.
Final 12 months, Amnesty Worldwide released a report putting the civilian death toll in American strikes at 14 since 2017 alone in Somalia.
The United States has carried out occasional counterterrorism airstrikes in Somalia for more than a dozen years, but the frequency has risen considerably under the Trump administration and continues to increase. Africa Command disclosed 63 strikes last year, up from the previous record of 47 in 2018.
Under sustained criticism, Africa Command agreed to look into claims of civilian casualties. In the report issued Monday, the command said two members of the Shabab were killed in the February 2019 airstrike, but that two civilians were killed as well when either American or Shabab munitions exploded during the strike, in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region.
Monday’s disclosure is only the second time in recent years that Africa Command has acknowledged civilian deaths from American strikes.
A year ago, the command, after disputing an Amnesty International report on civilian casualties, issued a rare mea culpa, saying that its own records showed that an April 2018 attack had killed two civilians, contrary to its news release about that strike.