Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USSOM115-C

Incident date

January 18, 2018

Location

Jameeco Jilyaale near Beled ul Amin, Lower Shabelle, Somalia

Geolocation

2.84889, 45.13846 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

The US confirmed it had accompanied Somali troops in a mission that rescued 30 to 32 boys from an al Shabaab indoctrination centre in the Lower Shabelle region. However, during the rescue attempt, fire reportedly from Somali forces reportedly killed four or five children, and a teacher. A later US government FOIA response indicated that civilians had died in the raid.

Those killed had been firing at the Somali soldiers leading them to respond, according to US Africa Command in its earlier responses, with an AFRICOM statement noting that “The Somali forces returned fire in self-defense. In the ensuing firefight, five enemy combatants were killed and six were wounded. Some of those killed in the engagement appear to have been under the age of 18. US personnel were in an advisory capacity, and did not fire their weapons.”

A team of US Special Operations Forces had advised local Somali troops during the raid on the camp in the Middle Shabelle region of Somalia, a US military official told CNN. A Somali intelligence official told AP it took place in the region’s Jame’o [or Jameeco Jilyaale] village. A local commander was among the dead, he said. All Africa identified him as Al Shabaab’s local emir of Jame’a Jilay near Beled ul Amin, Lower Shabelle.”

However, a declassified AFRICOM civilian harm assessment obtained by US journalist Nick Turse in 2019, showing that civilian casualties had indeed resulted from the joint operation – with assessors declaring the event to be Credible, with “Classified evidence leading to an assessment that the civilian casualties were the result of al-Shabaab employing human shields.”

This appeared closer to al Shabaab’s own report of events as cited by Reuters: “Al Shabaab said government forces, accompanied by drones, had attacked the school in Middle Shabelle region. It said four children and a teacher were killed.”

On this same date, US forces also launched a strike in the Lower Shabelle region at Beer Xani which killed four al Shabaab members, according to US Africa Command. There were no reports of civilian harm.

The incident occured during the night.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention that the raid targeted a camp in or near Jame’o (or Jameeco Jilyaale) village. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location of the camp. The coordinates for Jameeco Jilyaale are: 2.84889, 45.13846 (UN mapping also points to a second village called Jameeco Jilyaale: 2.59068, 45.31577, however, this does not show up in other mapping sources and on satellite imagery there is no settlement at these coordinates).

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    School
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 6
  • (4–5 children1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Known belligerents
    US Forces, Somali Military Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    4–5
  • Belligerents reported injured
    6

Sources (9) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

US Forces Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Non credible / Unsubstantiated
    Insufficient information to assess that, more likely than not, a Coalition strike resulted in civilian casualties.
  • Civilian deaths conceded
    None
  • Civilian injuries conceded
    None
  • Stated location
    Jameeco Jilyaale
    Nearest population center

Civilian casualty statements

US Forces
  • Aug 1, 2019
  • Credible: Classified evidence leading to an assessment that the civilian casualties were the result of al-Shabaab employing human shields.

Original strike reports

US Forces

U.S. Support to Somali National Security Forces results in recovery of children

On Jan. 18, U.S. forces accompanied Somali National Security Forces on a mission in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia resulting in the recovery of 30 male children from an al-Shabaab indoctrination center. We support the Federal Government of Somalia and UNICEF efforts to reunite these children with their families.

During the mission, the Somali National Security Forces received hostile fire. The Somali forces returned fire in self-defense. In the ensuing firefight, five enemy combatants were killed and six were wounded. Some of those killed in the engagement appear to have been under the age of 18. U.S. personnel were in an advisory capacity, and did not fire their weapons.

Somali Military Forces Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    Somali Military Forces
  • Somali Military Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    School
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 6
  • (4–5 children1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Small arms and light weapons
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Known belligerents
    US Forces, Somali Military Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    4–5
  • Belligerents reported injured
    6

Sources (9) [ collapse]