The US military might be guilty of war crimes for killing large numbers of civilians in a sharply stepped-up campaign of airstrikes in Somalia over the past two years, Amnesty International said.
The rights group said it had been able to document 14 civilians killed in investigations of just five airstrikes, a tiny fraction of at least 110 such strikes that the US military says it has launched since June 2017.
The US military rejected Amnesty’s report, saying that it has killed 800 militants in airstrikes in Somalia over that period, but has not wounded or killed a single civilian.
“We currently assesses no civilian casualties have occurred as a result of any US Africa Command airstrikes,” the US military’s Africa command, Africom, said in an e-mailed response.
The civilian death toll in the small number of airstrikes the rights group was able to investigate suggested that the “shroud of secrecy surrounding the US role in Somalia’s war is actually a smokescreen for impunity,” Amnesty senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations Brian Castner said.
“Members of the US government forces who planned and carried out the airstrikes may have committed violations of international humanitarian law, including unlawful killings, which could amount to war crimes,” Amnesty’s report said.
Somalia, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been in a state of civil war and profound insecurity since 1991. In the past few years, the US military has been supporting a UN-backed government in Mogadishu fighting against an insurgency by the al-Shabaab Islamic militant group.
In March 2017, US President Donald Trump gave the military greater authority to carry out strikes and raids in Somalia, including without waiting for militants to attack US allies.
“We have processes in place to ensure the safety and protection of the local population remains a top priority. These procedures, combined with precision strike capabilities, safeguard civilians and infrastructure,” Africom said in a statement.
A US airstrike this week killed four people — an employee of mobile phone company Hormuud Telecoms and three unidentified passengers — a relative of one of the victims said on Tuesday.
Africom said it had killed three militants in an airstrike on Monday, adding that it was aware of reports alleging civilian casualties and would review the information about the incident.
Amnesty’s report investigated five airstrikes in Lower Shabelle region. It concluded that 14 civilians had died and eight were injured.
Al-Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011, but retains a strong presence in parts of southern and central Somalia.
The militants that said US attacks inflict damage on local residents and encourage relatives of victims to join them.
“US strikes target farmers and pastoralists many times in many places of Somalia. People and their farms and animals perish. Their houses get burnt,” al-Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab said on Tuesday.
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