Source: Wikipedia Commons /  American drones such as the remotely piloted General Atomics MQ-1 Predator,  have been used primarily by the United States Air Force for counter-terror airstrikes in the Horn-of-African nation Somalia.

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The Pentagon has acknowledged that a US military strike intended to target al-Shabab fighters in Somalia  in February  killed one civilian and injured three more. US Africa Command (Africom) made the admission Wednesday concerning civilian casualties in its campaign against al-Shabaab, an extremist group in Somalia.  Many accuse the US of playing down and/or disputing civilian deaths.    In acknowledging the civilian casualty and injuries, Africom said  “they were not visible when we delivered the strike against the targeted individual.”  As part of the command’s commitment to transparency, Africom is implementing a quarterly report on the status of ongoing and completed civilian casualty allegations and assessments. It is only the second time in recent years Africom has admitted civilian casualties in Somalia in association with airstrikes. 

“Our goal is to always minimize impact to civilians. Unfortunately, we believe our operations caused the inadvertent death of one person and injury to three others who we did not intend to target. We work hard to prevent civilians from getting hurt or killed during these operations designed to bring increased security and stability to Somalia.”     

-said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command.

The Feb. 2, 2020, civilian casualty incident has been reported to the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu, the U.S. Congress, and the Federal Government of Somalia, Africom said.

Until this year, Africom has steadfastly disputed reports that civilians had been killed in US airstrikes and raids in Somalia during the past decade.

The US has been conducting air attack in Somalia for years to help defeat extremist group al-Shabab, which seeks to topple Somalia’s western-backed central government and set up its own rule based on strict interpretation of the Islamic sharia law.  Amnesty International released a report last year titled “The Hidden U.S. War in Somalia” putting the civilian death toll in US strikes at 14 since 2017 in Somalia alone.  “US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has conducted hundreds of air strikes in the decade-long fight against the armed group Al-Shabaab, but has only admitted to killing civilians in a single strike that took place exactly two years ago today. This lone admission was prompted by Amnesty International’s research and advocacy,” Amnesty International said in its Apr. 1, 2020 report. 

“There Is No Secret Air or Shadow War as Some Allege”   -General Townsend

“There is no secret air or shadow war as some allege,”   Townsend said in April after the first civilian casualty assessment report was released.   “How can there be when the whole world knows we are assisting Somalia in their fight against al-Shabaab terrorists? When we publically announce every single airstrike we conduct? When we publically admit to our mistakes? Unlike al-Shabaab we do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties and that is not changing on my watch.”

Since the last report, the command has improved its ability to receive future civilian casualty allegations by enhancing its ability for the public to submit civilian casualty allegations in native languages on the command’s website, according to Africom.

“We will continue our campaign to disrupt and degrade al-Shabaab,” said Townsend. “We will provide as much information to the public as possible while maintaining operational security. We are committed to minimizing civilian casualties and will continue to thoroughly assess all allegations.”