Civilian Casualties

2–14

7–10

الكود, Al Kawd, Khanfir district, Abyan, Yemen

LOCATION

Between 16 and 24 militants were killed in a series of alleged US or Yemeni airstrikes on Al Kawd village in the governorate of Abyan on April 8th, 2012, according to local sources. There were no reports of harm to civilians. According to a tweet from @hbashrbash, 24 Al Qaeda militants were killed in naval

Summary

Airstrike and/or Artillery, Naval bombardment

16–24

الصحراء بين محافظتي شبوة ومأرب, Desert road between Shabwa and Ma’rib governorates, Ma'rib, Yemen

LOCATION

Up to eight members of Al Qaeda were reported killed in an alleged US drone strike on a moving vehicle in Shabwa province, on the desert road between Shabwa and Ma’rib governorates, on April 7/8, 2012. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm. The Wall Street Journal reported that the target was AQAP

Summary

5–8

لحج‎, أبين‎, Lahj and Abyan governorates, Abyan, Yemen

LOCATION

As many as 43 ‘suspected Al Qaeda militants’ were killed and dozens of others were wounded in alleged US drone strikes and/or Yemeni air and artillery strikes in the Al Harur area of Lahj and Abyan governorates between 1-3 April 2012. The strikes were part of continuous raids by joint Yemeni land, sea, and air

Summary

Unknown

38–43

12–24

عزان, Azzan, Shabwa, Yemen

LOCATION

The second targeted attack in a two-part alleged US airstrike hit an Al Qaeda hideout in Azzan in the Shabwa Province on the 30th of March, 2012, injuring four civilians. The Long War Journal reported that a Predator or Reaper fired missiles at a building which was thought to be occupied by AQAP. The Long

Summary

Unknown

Geolocation

City

عزان, Azzan, Shabwa, Yemen

LOCATION

Initial reports suggested that one civilian was killed and six to eight civilians, including three to six children, were injured in an alleged US drone strike targeting a vehicle allegedly carrying AQAP members, in the city of Azzan in Shabwa Province at 4pm on the 30th of March 2012. A later report by Akkarama on

Summary

(1 man)

6–8

Named victims

7 named

2–5

زنجبار‎, Zinjibar, Abyan, Yemen

LOCATION

According to local Yemen officials, three areas in Zinjibar were struck by alleged US drone strikes or Yemeni military strikes, killing 29 to 30 Al Qaeda fighters and wounding dozens others on March 22, 2012. The website Arab Monitor stated that “dozens” were wounded in the attacks, which targeted alleged Al Qaeda bases. No other

Summary

Airstrike, Drone Strike, Naval bombardment

29–30

12–24

جعار, Ja'ar, Abyan, Yemen

LOCATION

One civilian was reported injured and eight militants were killed in alleged Yemeni or US airstrikes carried out on the city of Jaar on March 18th 2012, in the governorate of Abyan. According to an Associated Press (AP) report published in the Washington Times, the civilian was injured when a post office being used as

Summary

Airstrike, Naval bombardment

Infrastructure

Healthcare

مسيمر, Al Musaimeer, near Zinjibar, Abyan, Yemen

LOCATION

Alleged Yemeni or US strikes on Al Qaeda positions in north-eastern Zinjibar, Abyan province, allegedly killed 14 to 18 belligerents and injured dozens of others on 18 March 2012, sources said. There are currently no reports of civilian harm, though one source, Xinhua, stated that an anonymous Yemen official stated that “it was not clear

Summary

Airstrike, Drone Strike, Naval bombardment

Infrastructure

Agriculture

14–18

12–24

ٱلْبَيْضَاء‎, Bayda (town), Al Bayda, Yemen

LOCATION

An alleged U.S. drone strike killed four to five alleged AQAP militants and injured five others traveling in a car along an outpost in the Al-Ghunaim area of Shuria district in Al-Bayda Province on 13 March 2012. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm. Yemeni security officials stated that the strike was conducted

Summary

4–5

جبل خنفر, Mount (Jabal) Khanfar, Ja'ar, Abyan, Yemen

LOCATION

An air attack by the US and/or Yemen on a militant-occupied factory where arms were allegedly stored killed three to seven belligerents near Ja’ar the evening of March 11, 2012. Ansar al Sharia, along with other sources, said that US drones carried out the early evening strike, with up to five drones reportedly taking part.

Summary

3–7

جعار, Ja'ar, Abyan, Yemen

LOCATION

Alleged US airstrikes or Yemeni airstrikes in Jaar and Zinjibar on May 10, 2012 reportedly killed up to 24 alleged militants and nine others were injured, with some sources reporting possible civilian casualties. Although initially reported as the work of the Yemen Air Force, a senior Yemen government official told CNN that the attacks were

Summary

20–24

المخنق, Al Makhnaq, Al Zahir district, Al Bayda, Yemen

LOCATION

Ten to 43 suspected militants were reported killed in a drone strike at 9:15pm on al Bayda, Yemen, March 9th, 2012. Yet in interviews, human rights activists and victims’ relatives said “many” of the dead were civilians, not fighters, with at least two named civilian victims and a report of a child killed. As many

Summary

2 – 10

(0–1 children2 men)

0–55

Known belligerent

Known target

2 named, 1 familiy identified

Named victims

10–43

0–55

K60, Lower Shabelle, Somalia

LOCATION

One civilian man was possibly killed as a US drone struck and killed up to seven members of al-Shabaab at Kilometre 60 or K60, in Lower Shabelle, 60km south west of Mogadishu on the road to Marka/ Mercer, international media reported. The action came hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had told a

Summary

(1 man)

4–7

الخديرة, Awadh Abd Al Nabi school in the village Al Khadira, Abyan, Yemen

Somalia: a bullet-riddled history

Published

February 22, 2012

Written by

Emma Slater

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

BackgroundSomalia has been without a functional government since 1991. This was when socialist president Siad Barre was overthrown by a coalition of armed opposition groups and rebels, led by warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his group, the United Somali Congress (USC).

The north-west region of Somalia split off, declaring itself the independent Republic of Somaliland. Somaliland has enjoyed relative stability, but Somalia has plunged into a raging civil war involving rival warlords and Islamist militants. The more than two decades of violence that have ensued have devastated the country and caused the deaths of up to a million people.

The UN entered Somalia in July 1992 to provide humanitarian relief amid escalating violence. By December 1993, with the situation deteriorating, the UN asked member states for assistance. The US obliged, sending troops into Mogadishu.

But during a disastrous 15-hour battle with militiamen in August 1993, two US Black Hawk helicopters were brought down. Eighteen American soldiers died in related operations. In the book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War it is estimated that more than 700 Somali militiamen and civilians died in the battle.

Famine

This ‘failed state’ recently experienced the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa’s history, with those needing UN assistance increasing from an estimated two million at the start of 2011 to four million by September 2011. The Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit declared a state of famine in six areas in southern Somalia in 2011.

Somalia’s acting government, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), was created to try and impose some sort of stability and coherence. Set up by peace talks held in Kenya between 2002 and 2004, the TFG was, and continues to be, recognised by the UN and the international community.

See the Bureau’s full data on Somalia’s hidden war

But in its early days the TFG had little success. It was ousted in early 2006, when a conflict between clan-based militias came to an ‘uneasy truce… with the rise to power of the militia-backed Islamic Courts Union’, explained Human Rights Watch.

The ICU mirrored aspects of the Taliban. As Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal reported, ‘Over the course of the summer and fall of 2006, The Islamic Courts consolidated its power in central and southern Somalia. It began to impose a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law, and shut down movie theaters, viewing centers for soccer matches and co-ed events such as sports. Cigarettes, alcohol and khat, the popular leafy narcotic chewed by Somalis, were banned.’

As the ICU marched into Mogadishu, thousands of civilians fled the capital. By mid-2006, the ICU had taken over Mogadishu, as well as much of south and central Somalia.

Abandoned tank in Somalia Sept 2007 (Carl Montgomery/Flickr)

Ethiopia invades

But the ICU’s rule did not last. In December 2006, the TFG, supported by the Ethiopian army, began a lengthy battle which would eventually defeat the ICU. At the time Human Rights Watch reported, ‘outside powers such as Ethiopia, the United States, and the European Union feared that the ICU and its radical armed youth wing, al-Shabaab, would create an Islamist bastion in Somalia’.

‘The Islamic Courts began to impose a strict version of sharia and shut down movie theaters, viewing centers for soccer matches and co-ed events such as sports. Cigarettes, alcohol and khat, the popular leafy narcotic chewed by Somalis, were banned‘ – Long War Journal

For two years, Ethiopia fought ICU militias and the emerging al Shabaab. It was joined in January 2007 by a UN-created peace force comprising African Union troops – AMISOM (see below).

As mentioned in the Bureau’s Somalia timeline, several sources report that Ethiopia received extensive backing from the US during its invasion, with the Nation’s Jeremy Scahill calling the invasion ‘a classic [US] proxy war’.

And as 10,000 troops crossed the border, they received airborne reconnaissance support and ‘other intelligence’ from the US, the Washington Post reported.

But diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal a different story, with US officials seemingly urging caution. A December 6 2007 cable recorded US Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Yamamoto warning Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi the invasion could ‘prove more difficult for Ethiopia than many now imagine’.

When the ICU was defeated and Ethiopia withdrew in 2009, some Somalis turned against the foreign invaders. Despite its harsh rule, the ICU had brought an element of stability to Somalia, having defeated the warlords and imposed Islamic religious laws.

‘It’s not just that people miss those days,’ a Somali humanitarian worker told the Chicago Tribune. ‘They resent the Ethiopians and Americans tearing it all up, using Somalia as their battlefield against global terrorism. It’s like the Cold War all over again. Somalis aren’t in control.’

The emergence of al ShabaabThe TFG had regained an element of control. But to the south of the capital, another Islamic faction was growing: al Shabaab, also known as the Harakat Al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin. Originally the ICU’s militant wing, al-Shabaab forged its own identity. Its aim is to dismantle the TFG, to ‘mount sustained attacks against the transitional federal institutions and their security forces, as well as AMISOM, and to threaten the political process’, commented the 2011 UN Monitoring Group on Somalia’s report. In 2007, al Shabaab’s leaders claimed affiliation with al-Qaeda (the group formally announced this union on February 9 2012).

‘Al-Shabaab admits to the recruitment of children, who are represented among many recent deaths and defections in their forces’ – Human Rights Watch

In February 2008 the US designated al Shabaab a terrorist organisation. Al Shabaab has committed widespread human rights abuses, reported Human Rights Watch, ‘including punishments such as beheadings, amputations, stoning and beatings, restrictions on dress and freedom of movement, enforced contributions, and forcible recruitment into the militia.’ In addition, HRW says,’Al-Shabaab admits to the recruitment of children, who are represented among many recent deaths and defections in their forces’.

A representative of GarGar Foundation for Development, a charity for Somali women, told the Bureau that under Shabaab, ‘there is a lack of education, lack of health services, and there are often reports of women getting raped’.

Kenya follows Ethiopia’s leadOn October 16 2011, Kenya invaded Somalia. The invasion, codenamed Operation Linda Nchi, was ostensibly a response to three separate kidnappings of westerners by al Shabaab militants in the preceding weeks, all on Kenyan soil.

But Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan government’s chief spokesman, told the New York Times the kidnappings were more a ‘good launchpad’ than the sole reason for invasion. ‘An operation of this magnitude is not planned in a week,’ Mutua said. ‘It’s been in the pipeline for a while.’

Speaking to the Financial Times, Matua said while the Kenyan forces wanted to locate the kidnappers, their mission went far deeper: to ‘track down and dismantle the al-Shabaab’.

While cooperation with US forces was mooted by the media at the start of Kenya’s invasion, several US officials have ‘explicitly denied coordination with the Kenyan military or any contribution of direct military support,’ said Dr Micah Zenko, fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, writing in the Atlantic. On October 25, the US stated that it was emphatically not participating in the invasion.

The invasion has not only appeared in the news, it has also been prominent in social media, with the Kenyan army and al Shabaab taking the battle onto Twitter.

As of February 22 2012, the Kenyan incursion is ongoing. The TFG’s mandate is set to expire in August 2012.

A malnourished child awaits AMISOM medical help in the 2011 drought (UN/Flickr)

Who are the non-Somali military players?

JSOCJoint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, is the elite Special Forces division that runs most US operations in Somalia.

Formed in 1980 in the wake of a disastrous attempt to free US hostages in Iran, JSOC’s role is to co-ordinate elite Special Forces personnel in the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Its goals sound innocuous enough:

To study special operations requirements and techniques, ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, plan and conduct special operations exercises and training, and develop joint special operations tactics.

Yet since the September 11 attacks, JSOC has become a critical element of the US’s global ‘war on terror’. Its forces hunted down and killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and captured Saddam Hussein in Iraq. In May last year Navy Seal Team 6, part of JSOC, killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. JSOC also worked with the CIA in Yemen in September 2011 to kill Anwar al-Awlaki.

It has also been involved in more controversial actions, for example in a number of ground incursions into Pakistan which resulted in civilian deaths.

As the Bureau’s database shows, US Special Forces were active in Somalia just weeks after the September 11 attacks. Operations initially focused on surveillance and renditions. However from 2007 onwards JSOC has carried out a number of airstrikes, drone strikes and cruise missile attacks resulting in the deaths of a number of militants. Civilians have also been reportedly killed in the attacks.

Amisom

The African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) is a peacekeeping force operating with the approval of the United Nations to try to stabilise the country and oust al Shabaab. It was created in February 2007 with a six-month mandate. Five years later, Amisom forces remain in Somalia. In March the European Union pledged $92m (£58m) in new funding, while the US is set to provide military equipment worth $45m to Amisom troops.

The Amisom mission has three components: police, military and civilian. The military section is by far the largest, with around 9,500 troops mainly from Uganda and Burundi. The UN has demanded that this number ‘urgently increase’ to 12,000 by October 2012. From 2009, Amisom was tasked with ensuring security in areas from which Ethiopian troops had withdrawn.

While Amisom insists its forces adhere to strict international standards, in August 2011 Human Rights Watch reported that ‘All forces involved in the recent fighting in Mogadishu… including the African Union peacekeeping mission, AMISOM—have been responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war). These abuses include indiscriminate attacks, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, and unlawful forced recruitment.’

CJTF-Horn of AfricaThe Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) was created to help accomplish the objectives of Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa, a US-led initiative aimed at combating terrorism and piracy in the Horn of Africa following 9/11.

Based at Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti, CJTF-HOA consists of around 2,000 personnel from US and coalition armed forces, alongside around 1,200 private contractors. It conducts civil and military operations in East Africa under the command of United States Africa Command (Africom).

The Horn of Africa was widely thought to be an ideal safe haven due to ongoing border tensions, insurgencies, corruption, poverty, lawlessness, and large ungoverned spaces. The task force’s initial aim was to detect and destroy potential terrorist hideouts, to target individuals, to break logistical lines, and to directly attack groups connected to al Qaeda: essentially a ‘capture and kill’ mission.

Camp Lemmonier is not only a forward operating base for CJTF troops, it also provides a launchpad for missiles, and for unarmed and armed drones operated by the CIA and the elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

By 2008, US Army Lieutenant Colonel Ted R. Bates, commented: ‘as the CJTF-HOA mission progressed it soon became clear that the Afghanistan invasion did not produce the high volume of fleeing terrorists to the Horn of Africa region that CENTCOM [Central Command] had anticipated. In fact, the Horn of Africa region contained less terrorist activity than originally feared.’

As a result, the taskforce increasingly expanded to undertake civil affairs missions, in addition to training counter-terrorism forces. However, by early 2011 the US military re-engaged heavily in Somalia. The Arab Spring uprising in Yemen also led to a significant number of US military personnel being reassigned to Djibouti.

Combined Task Force 150Created to counter terrorism, prevent smuggling, and develop security on the seas, Combined Task Force 150 has been boarding vessels off the coast of Somalia since 2007 in search of terrorist suspects.

One of three naval task forces operated by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), participating nations have included the UK, France, Canada, Germany, Pakistan, Australia, Denmark and the US. CTF-150 operates in a two million square mile stretch covering the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and the northern Indian Ocean.

‘Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure’ (VBSS) missions are performed on fishing boats (dhows) and oil tankers passing near the Somali coast. The aim is to ‘deter individuals with links to al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations the use of the sea as a potential escape route’, according to the US Department of Defense.

Study shows up to 6 British extremists killed in Somalia

Published

February 22, 2012

Written by

Chris Woods

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

UK military board a suspect boat off the coast of Somalia (Ministry of Defence/Flickr)

A new Bureau study of western military operations in Somalia reveals that up to six UK citizens have died in attacks carried out by the US and its allies.

The findings appear to support rising UK concerns about the security situation in the east African nation.

With indications that the UK may be seeking to move beyond its current anti-piracy operations in Somalia, any deeper engagement risks drawing Britain into a complex web of shifting enemies, proxy wars and secretive Special Forces operations.

The present UK role contrasts sharply with the United States, which the Bureau reveals has launched up to 20 strikes aganst terrorist suspects over the past five years. Between 46 and 162 people – mostly alleged militants – are reported killed in those attacks.

Political willAs world leaders gather in London on Thursday to hear Britain’s vision of a new deal for war-torn Somalia, the emphasis is on rebuilding a shattered nation.

Yet at a preparatory conference in early February, Foreign Secretary William Hague also hinted at increased British military involvement

, stating: ‘We must make it harder for terrorists to operate in and out of Somalia.’

The Guardian has also revealed that the UK has drawn up contingency plans for possible airstrikes on pirates and terrorists.

One source told the paper: ‘There was no political will on this to begin with, but that has been changing. We know where the camps are, where they set up and where they launch from.’

Related story: Get the data – Somalia’s hidden war

Direct threatSo is there a risk that Britain will be drawn deeper into Somalia’s decades-long conflict? And how involved are we already?

So far, the Bureau’s study shows, Britain’s role has mainly focused on countering Somali pirates. The UK’s naval assets – part of Coalition Task Force 150 – are widely used in board and search operations.

‘We must make it harder for terrorists to operate in and out of Somalia. The Conference should agree the areas we need to develop to disrupt terrorism across the region, including stopping the movement of terrorists to and from Somalia, disrupting the flow of their finances, and delivering effective intelligence gathering, investigation, criminal prosecution and detention against them‘

William Hague, February 2012

On January 13 this year for example, Royal Marine commandos captured 13 Somali pirates.

British military trainers have also helped instruct other African armies for a role in Amisom, the African peace-keeping force in Somalia.

Yet since 2011 UK’s forces are increasingly being engaged on the ground in Somalia. This may reflect a growing fear that Somali militants represent a direct threat to UK interests.

In June 2011 the Special Boat Squadron reportedly finished an eight-week programme mapping the ports used by Somali pirates.

And on July 9 2011, a Royal Navy ship the RFA Cardigan Bay docked in the Somali port of Berbera. Royal Marines reportedly disembarked in armoured vehicles, pushing some miles inland to rendezvous with a tribal leader and bring him to a meeting with UK officials.

Related story: Somalia – a bullet-riddled history

British militantsAlthough British efforts have predominantly focused on tackling piracy, the UK’s National Security Council recently classified Somalia as ‘a priority country.’

The UK has been ‘war gaming’ possible airstrikes against militant al-Shabaab bases in Somalia, according to the Guardian.

And dozens of British volunteers have already been drawn to militant groups in the war-torn nation, recent reports have suggested.

The Bureau has found as many as six British citizens have been killed in attacks by the US and its allies.

In March 2007, a single source claims that British SAS troops, working with members of US Delta Force, entered Somalia and took DNA samples relating to four Britons killed in an American strike that took place in January of that year.

On June 1 2007, at least one British militant was reported killed in a US naval bombardment.

And on January 21 2012 British-Lebanese militant Bilal al-Barjawi was killed in a US drone strike near Mogadishu.

A movement by the UK towards attacks on al Shabaab in Somalia might indicate that US and UK counter-terrorism interests may be coinciding, according to Dr Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations:

‘The US emphasis is now on disrupting active plots in Somalia against the US homeland. And where you see such plots, you often see attacks planned against the UK and other US allies,’ he told the Bureau this week.

Key British Anti-Piracy Operations

June 2011

Britain’s Special Boat Squadron, in conjunction with French special forces, reportedly finished an eight-week programme mapping ports used by Somali pirates. According to a UK defence source, ‘There are countless ports where hijacked ships are docked. SBS troops built up a security picture.’

Type of action: Naval and ground operationsLocation: Southern SomaliaReference: The Sun

July 9 2011British Royal Marines reportedly landed at Berbera in northern Somalia to liaise with and transport a Somali tribal elder to talks. The troops, from 539 Assault Squadron attached to Exercise Somalialand Cougar, reportedly landed with Viking armoured vehicles and met with the elder some miles inland. He was then ferried to ‘a very important meeting‘ with MI6 and Foreign Office representatives.

Type of action: Ground operation

Location: SomalialandReferences: Daily Mail, Somaliland Times, BBC

October 11 2011US and British naval and marine units freed the hijacked crew of the Italian ship Montecristo and captured 11 Somali pirates. British defence secretary Liam Fox said of the operation:

Such was the show of strength displayed by RFA [Royal Fleet Auxilliary] Fort Victoria, alongside a US navy frigate, that the operation was conducted without a shot being fired.

Type of action: Naval operation

Location: Indian Ocean off SomaliaReferences: The Guardian, Associated Press, British Ministry of Defence

January 13 2012

British naval forces captured 13 Somali pirates. The operation involved Royal Marine snipers in Lynx helicopters, and Royal Naval and Royal Marine commandos in speedboats. Speaking about the operation, defence secretary Philip Hammond said:

This operation off the coast of Somalia is a clear demonstration of Britain’s ability to tackle piracy that threatens our interests. The Royal Navy and Royal Marines are playing a crucial role in securing and protecting international sea lanes that are vital to global trade.

Type of action: Naval operation

Location: Indian Ocean off SomaliaReference: British Ministry of Defence

Additional reporting by Emma Slater, Alice Ross and David Pegg

Follow Chris Woods on Twitter @chrisjwoods

Militants and civilians killed in multiple US Somalia strikes

Published

February 22, 2012

Written by

Chris Woods

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

US Navy Seals in training (US Navy/Specialist 2nd Class John Scorza/Flickr)

As many as 21 US military strikes in Somalia since 2007 have killed up to 169 people, new research by the Bureau indicates. Of those killed, between 11 and 59 people are reported to be civilians.

US military intervention in war-torn Somalia is shown to be on a far lower scale than in Yemen or Pakistan. However, US attacks escalated sharply against al Shabaab targets in 2011.

The Bureau has carried out a detailed examination of reports of western military activity in Somalia spanning over more than a decade. These are drawn from credible media, from academic research, from US and UK military and diplomatic records and from other reputable sources.

The research team has sought to untangle often conflicting original reports, and to confirm where possible all incidents. Although over 70 US strikes have been reported since 2007, for example, the Bureau believes that fewer than a third of such claims appear credible.

The findings reveal a complex web of shifting enemies, of invasions and proxy wars, and secretive and deadly US Special Forces attacks.

Strikes

The Bureau’s database, released today, chronicles more than 50 documented events dating from 2001. These range from surveillance and counter-piracy operations in Somalia, to heavy airstrikes and drone attacks on alleged Islamic militants.

Somalia is one of the most challenging areas of the world… And it is an area that al Qaeda has tried regularly to exploit’– John Brennan

The research reveals that between nine and 21 US counter-terrorism attacks have taken place in Somalia between 2007 and 2012. Between 51 and 169 people are reported killed in these events, mostly alleged militants.

However between 11 and 59 of those killed were reported to have been civilians.

The total number of casualties may be higher. Some reports simply state ‘many killed’, and other attacks may be unrecorded.

The Bureau’s findings in briefAlthough US Special Forces have been active in Somalia since the September 11 attacks, the Bureau’s investigation indicates that US attacks only began in January 2007. Although more than 70 claims of US military strikes have been reported since then, only a smaller number can be fully substantiated.

Nine attacks have been directly confirmed by US spokespeople or unnamed US officials. Between 51 and 67 people are reported killed in these attacks, of whom between 11 and 13 are reported as civilians. A further four strikes are reported by multiple credible media sources, though they have not been verified by the US military. These reportedly killed a further 13-45 people of whom between 4 and 31 were reportedly civilians. Eight strikes are single-source only, via generally credible media. These account for a further 22-57 deaths, of whom 15 were reported to be civilians.

The US Department of Defense declined to provide corrections and clarification on strikes where original reporting is confused.

During its investigation, the Bureau also examined 56 ‘US drone strikes’ reported by Iranian broadcaster Press TV, which it claimed had killed more than 1,370 people. No corroborative evidence could be found to support these claims, which are reported separately here.

Covert surveillance

The Bureau’s study shows distinct phases in western military intervention. Just weeks after the terrorist atrocities of September 11 2001, US Special Forces became active in Somalia. There were fears the failed nation might become another Afghanistan, supporting al Qaeda and other transnational terrorist organisations.

Between 2001 and December 2006, that US engagement consisted mainly of a number of covert surveillance operations. In March 2003, for example, US commandos planted a dozen concealed cameras on the Somali coast to monitor militant activity.

The US also carried out extraordinary renditions of an estimated eight terror suspects during this period. The Bureau has so far identified two of the men as Suleiman Abdallah, taken in March 2003; and Mohammed Ali Isse, seized in June 2004.

Related story: Somalia – a bullet-riddled history

Airstrikes

December 2006 triggered a new phase of US involvement. The Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) took advantage of Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia to launch a series of air, naval and ground attacks against alleged al Qaeda militants.

In this second phase, according to Dr Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations, such strikes ‘weren’t about shaping Somalia but about going after particular individuals tied to specific terrorist plots, who happened to be there.’

In January 2007, US Special Forces AC-130 gunships struck militant camps up to four times. Between 26 and 61 people died in the attacks – including between 6 and 35 civilians. And in June 2007 the USS Chafee carried out a rare naval bombardment on Islamic militants in northern Somalia, killing a dozen.

US AC-130 gunships have been primary platform for attack in Somalia (Lockheed Martin/ Flickr)

In the third and present phase, which began in late spring 2011, the US began targeting al Shabaab directly, with the militant organisation now perceived as a key threat to US homeland security. As President Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan spelled out last October:

Al-Qaida traditionally has taken advantage of areas that are wracked by conflict, turmoil and lack of government, it is a safe haven they see to launch attacks… Somalia is one of the most challenging areas of the world because it has this internal conflict, it has such a devastating famine, and it is an area that al-Qaida has tried regularly to exploit.

Drone strikes: 2011 to presentThe Bureau’s research shows that, after a reporting gap of 18 months, the US definitively returned to the offensive in Somalia with its first drone strike on June 23 2011. The strike was aimed at senior al Shabaab leaders, though it remains unclear how many – if any – died.

The Special Forces drones – independent from the CIA’s fleet – operate from bases in Djibouti, Ethiopia and possibly the Seychelles. By February 2012 between four and 12 drone strikes had reportedly taken place.

Though the Bureau has striven to untangle confused reporting of western military activity in Somalia, much remains opaque – something the US seems keen to see continue.

‘We cannot provide specific operational details,’ senior Pentagon spokesman Lt Col James Gregory recently told the Bureau. ‘Regarding Somalia, we are supportive of the African Union Mission there and the Transitional Federal Government efforts as they continue to fight terrorism.’

The Somalia data compares with some 316 CIA drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004 which have killed between 2,400 and 3,000 people, according to the Bureau’s data.

Additional reporting by Emma Slater, Alice Ross and David Pegg

Follow Chris Woods on Twitter @chrisjwoods

This article was last amended February 25 2012 after US officials confirmed a drone strike on February 24

LOCATION

Between three and 15 Al Qaeda members were killed and up to 15 others were injured in confirmed US airstrikes conducted by a mix of drones and manned aircrafts under the US Department of Defence’s control on Awadh Abd Al Nabi school in the village Al Khadira on January 31, 2012. There were no known

Summary

Infrastructure

Education

Known belligerent

Known target

3–15

2–15

Elasha Biyaha, Lower Shabelle, Somalia

LOCATION

A British al Shabaab fighter, Bilal al-Berjawi, was killed by a US drone strike in or near the town of Elasha Biyaha, 15km south of Mogadishu, local and international media reported. There were no reports of civilian harm. Three missiles fired from a drone operated by JSOC killed British-Lebanese militant Bilal al-Berjawi, also known as

Summary

Kismayo, Lower Juba, Somalia

LOCATION

In this single-source claim, six people were allegedly killed as an airstrike carried out by US or Kenyan forces, struck near the al Shabaab stronghold of Kismayo, Sheikh Mohamud Abdi, a senior al-Shabaab commander, claimed to Reuters. It is not known whether the strike was by US or Kenyan forces. Kenya sent troops into Somalia

Summary

0 – 6

Al-Shabaab

زنجبار‎, Zinjibar, Abyan, Yemen

Ofcom revokes Press TV’s UK licence

Published

January 20, 2012

Written by

Chris Woods and Emma Slater

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Press TV, the news channel backed by the Iranian government, is to be taken off the air in Britain, regulator Ofcom ruled today.

The station was fined £100,000 by Ofcom in December 2011, after the station hid the fact that a 2009 ‘interviewee’ was being forcibly detained in Iran. However, the station did not meet its January deadline to pay the fine.

Ofcom also requested that Press TV name on its licence the person, or body who controls its UK-based operations.

But Ofcom says Press TV failed to accede to either request. As a result, the channel will be taken off its UK platform – Sky television – today.

Rhys Hurd, press spokesman at Ofcom, told the Bureau:

‘We are revoking Press TV’s licence because editorial control does not sit with the UK licencee. We have given the broadcaster a number of opportunities to bring themselves into line, indeed we have bent over backwards to accommodate them, but they have failed to do so.’

Hurd added: ‘We have very simple ground rules. Ofcom licences around 1000 stations and the vast majority stay within those rules.’

Press TV called the decision ‘scandalous’, with CEO Mohammad Sarafraz claiming that the decision is ‘an act of aggression by the British monarchy’ which ‘will prevent the British from learning the truth’.

In an October 2011 an opinion poll on the station’s website, Press TV reported that 52% of respondents viewed Ofcom’s decision as ‘an instance of intellectual terrorism.’

In December 2011, an investigation by the Bureau, published in the Guardian, highlighted how Press TV appeared to have faked dozens of accounts of US drone strikes in Somalia which it claimed had killed hundreds of civilians.

The Bureau found no evidence of the alleged 1,370 fatalities, stemming from 56 claimed drone strikes.

Following the Bureau’s revelations, Press TV’s reporting of alleged strikes ceased for over a month, until January 6 2012.

LOCATION

Up to five people, allegedly members of Al Qaeda, were killed in an alleged US drone strike or naval shelling on an extremist site in Bagdar neighborhood in the city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province in southern Yemen on the evening of December 22nd, 2011 according to local sources and news outlets. One

Summary

Airstrike, Drone Strike, Naval bombardment

Afgooye, Lower Shabelle, Somalia

Press TV Somalia drone strike reports cease after Bureau investigation

Published

December 14, 2011

Written by

Emma Slater

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Press TV alleged that 749 Somalis were killed in US drone attacks in November alone.

Earlier this month the Bureau published an investigation into how alleged US drone strikes in Somalia were being reported by Iranian broadcaster Press TV.

In 56 reports between July and December this year, the station claimed that at least 1,370 people had been killed by US drone strikes. The state-backed station alleged that, in November alone, 749 Somalis were killed in 28 alleged US drone attacks, and at least 643 people were injured.

Now, the Bureau can reveal that since our report was published on the evening of December 2, 2011, Press TV appears to have ceased reporting drone strikes in Somalia altogether.

Research by the Bureau, published in the Guardian, found no independent evidence to verify the reports, with a senior UN official commenting:

‘Press TV is not a reliable source. It exaggerates and openly fabricates reports.’

Since the investigation was published 12 days ago, Press TV have not released a single report alleging a US drone strike in Somalia – contrasting hugely with the ‘coverage’ before Bureau publication.

In addition, the station seems to have retreated from its earlier claims of ‘hundreds’ of civilian fatalities. A Press TV article on December 5 stated that only ‘several’ civilians had been killed by US drone strikes in Somalia.

The article has now been revised to read: ‘Washington claims the airstrikes target militants, though civilians constitute the majority of the victims of such attacks.’

However, Mr Barvasad, a senior Producer at Press TV’s Iranian headquarters who heads the Somalia newsroom, denied that the discontinuation of the channel’s questionable reporting has any connection with the Bureau’s investigation.

‘It wasn’t because of your article,’ he told the Bureau. ‘There was nothing reported to us [about drone strikes]. So we didn’t cover them. If there’s anything reported to us we will cover them again.

‘I think it’s a coincidence that there are no reports over the past 12 days. The reporters haven’t been sending us any reports about attacks,’ he maintained.

The graph below shows Press TV’s reporting of US drone ‘fatalities’, and alleged numbers of people injured, in Somalia over the last 28 days.

The data shows a clear drop-off on the date of publication – this could be coincidental, as Press TV insists, or the two could be linked.

Press TV reporting of claimed Somali fatalities/injuries by alleged US drone strikes

Analysis: An Iranian news station damages all war reporting

Published

December 5, 2011

Written by

Chris Woods

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A WFP food distribution centre for displace people near Mogadishu

Revelations by the Bureau at the weekend that Iranian broadcaster Press TV is most likely fabricating multiple reports of alleged US ‘drone strikes’ in Somalia will do little to bolster the channel’s already tattered reputation. And its actions could impede those trying to hold the US genuinely to account for its covert war on terror.

According to Press TV’s own publicity its ‘global Tehran-based headquarters is staffed with outstanding Iranian and foreign media professionals.’ But some accuse the station of being little more than a propaganda outlet for elements of the Iranian regime.

Fined by Ofcom

Last week the British media regulator Ofcom fined the station £100,000 after Press TV hid from UK viewers the fact that an ‘interview’ it carried was with a journalist being held against his will in Tehran, who was forced to read from a prepared statement.

Now Press TV’s reporting in Somalia is under scrutiny. The station claims there have been at least 56 strikes by ‘US assassination drones’ since September, which have killed more than 1,370 people – hundreds of them civilians. Yet a major study led by the Bureau’s Emma Slater has found no supportive evidence.

We’ve spoken with the UN, with the transitional Somali government, with aid agencies on the ground, with journalists, with US diplomats and with the Pentagon. Not a single source can independently confirm any single attack. As far as we can tell, Press TV’s reports of drone strikes are false. In the words of one senior United Nations official: ‘Press TV is not a reliable source. It exaggerates and openly fabricates reports.’

By November, the TV station had become so complacent that it began cutting and pasting village names and casualty numbers into pre-prepared copy. At least four reports state identically, apart from casualty numbers and location, that:

‘Somali tribal elders, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Press TV that the remote-controlled aerial vehicles fired several missiles at X village…’

Certainly many people are dying in Somalia as a result of ongoing chaos. It may be that some or even most of the reported casualties in Press TV’s reports have died violent deaths. But US drones do not appear to have been the cause.

Why does this matter?Well, the US does carry out drone strikes in Somalia. And there is credible evidence of US Special Forces operating inside Somalia for the past eight years. Multiple US attacks (for example using airstrikes, cruise missiles or ground operations) have killed alleged militants. And from June 2011, the US added armed drones to its regional arsenal – with a small number of lethal strikes so far identified.

‘Press TV is not a reliable source. It exaggerates and openly fabricates reports.’

Senior United Nations official

The US target is militant organisation al-Shabab, which controls much of the centre and south of the country. According to the Pentagon, the group is increasingly collaborating with Al Qaeda in nearby Yemen. Both countries have seen a marked rise in US covert attacks in recent months.

President Obama is moving away from the recent US model of tens of thousands of occupying troops on the ground. Instead elite Special Forces and the CIA – backed by an ever-growing fleet of lethal drones – will project US force.

Yet these covert operations are still officially denied. There is no public accountability – and precious little evidence of private accountability either. When NATO forces bombed two Pakistani military posts recently an inquiry was ordered. We will learn at least something of the truth.

But when a CIA or Special Forces drone strike kills civilians, as does happen, we hear nothing. No compensation has ever been paid to victims. No inquiry has ever been held that we are aware of.

Credible journalism is crucial if we are to hold those fighting the covert war to account. Every time Press TV issues another untenable claim of ‘dozens killed by a US assassination drone’, it reduces accountability by further obscuring the evidence.

Iranian TV station ‘faked’ Somali deaths by US drones

Published

December 2, 2011

Written by

Chris Woods and Emma Slater

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Press TV claims at least 383 Somali civilians have been killed by US drone attacks.

An Iranian TV station appears to have faked dozens of accounts of US drone strikes in Somalia which it says have killed hundreds of civilians.

Press TV, which was fined £100,000 by Ofcom on Thursday after the station hid the fact that a 2009 ‘interviewee’ was being forcibly detained in Iran, has reported the deaths of more than 1,370 people in drone strikes in Somalia since September this year, of which 383 are categorised as civilians.

But research by the Bureau, published in the Guardian, has found no evidence of the alleged 1,370 fatalities, stemming from 56 claimed drone strikes.

Highly suspectThe first known lethal US drone strike in Somalia occurred on June 23 2011. A small number of similar attacks appear to have taken place since then, possibly in conjunction with operations by the French and Kenyan militaries.

The Pentagon does not comment on drone strikes, so there are no official figures for the numbers of civilian deaths. For years, the US has been carrying out other covert missions in Somalia, but started using armed drones in Somalia in June.

However the number of strikes reported by Press TV are questionable.

On September 15 2011, Press TV reported that US drone attacks on the outskirts of Kismayo town, Somalia, had killed nine women and children.

‘Press TV does have a penchant for exaggeration: in the past they have published conflict reports which, in reality, never occurred.’Tony Burns, Somali charity SAACID

It was the first of many claims of drone strike civilian deaths in Somalia. No photographic or video evidence has ever been shown in support. At least four reports are identical in all but place name and casualty numbers, and sources are only named in four of the 56 ‘drone strike’ reports.

The Bureau has been unable to identify sources Hassan Ali and Colonel Aden Dheere, described as “Somali military officials” or Mohamud Abdirahman, an “eyewitness”, despite lodging a request with the Somali Government and with Press TV’s Iranian HQ.

‘No place to hide’: Speaking up for armed drones

Published

November 21, 2011

Written by

Chris Woods

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As US under-secretary of defense in the early 1990s, Major General Kenneth Israel was one of the first to see the potential of combat drones. Now a vice-president of arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, he was in London recently to chair a conference on UAVs, where he spoke to the Bureau.

How did armed drones come about?

This is the tenth year anniversary of putting weapons on unmanned systems. That was not a serendipitous decision, it was there because we have tried to change the paradigm in terms of separating operations and intelligence and make them seamless. So now we don’t talk about ops and intelligence, we talk about the ops, intel symphony, of having them working together. And it’s hard to tell where intelligence begins and ends and then where operations begin and end. I’ll give you an example [of how it used to be] – Zarqawi, killed in 2006. We had 600 hours of ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] looking exactly at what all the indicators were in terms of his patterns of life, where he visited, basically what his behaviour profile was. But the actual killing was not done by a UAV, it was done by two F16s dropping a JDAM [‘Bunker Buster’ bomb].

HVTs [high value targets] were beginning to understand that there was a gap, a lapse, they had about 5 to 10 minutes when they could do something and move out of the area because there was no weapon system. But now we’ve changed that, by coupling a weapons system with an ISR asset, so that now every sensor should be a shooter, and every shooter should be a sensor. So what we have now done is change the dynamic in our favour. And when I say in our favour, in the Coalition’s favour, in terms of basically being able to respond immediately to a lethal intention with a lethal response, if and when it is required.

You’re described as one of the fathers of the modern drone – does it surprise you how ubiquitous they’ve become?

Our country, our ally countries, will never go back to a pre-911 condition in terms of how we respond to extremis threats. Evil is real – your ability to respond to real evil is part of every individual nation’s response. To me, if your tactic is to wait until the vulnerability period of time and then at the moment of weakness to execute your decision to kill, to strike, to do some damage, we’ve taken that away, there’s no place to hide. And the fact that we now have persistence, which UAVs provide, that we can keep airborne assets up 24 hours a day and the fact that they are now armed with Hellfire, JBU-12 and -38 bombs, we can even drop them by GPS capability or with lasers. We now can very precisely aspire to any kind of spur of the moment attack at all times of the day or night. There is no place to hide and there is no time for anybody to take a cheap shot. We have to be on guard 100% of the time. The adversaries only have to get it right once. So what we’re trying to do is say, ‘The cost of getting it right once is so high now, that it would discourage anybody trying to do so.’

Will there come a point when everyone has armed UAVs – including our traditional and non-traditional enemies?

At some point in time we will have UAV-on-UAV warfare. It is not something I fear….

The bottom line is networked forces will always outfight non-networked forces, and so if we see a renegade or a low tech adversary get their hands on a UAV, what are they going to do with it? I mean there are things you can do to neutralise that and I can tell you we are continuing to advance the state of the art. Yes it’s something I think most modern countries are preparing to deal with. So that is not an area of concern – we’re prepared for it and we’re going to stay ahead of any potential adversary fielding that kind of capability.

And I will trade a printed circuit board for the life of a British soldier, an American soldier, Italian soldier, [and in] any other NATO country using UAVs with weapons today, for an extremist like Awlaki, Zarqawi

It’s argued that there is no risk in the platform, no risk to the pilots versus those on the battlefield – even that drones are cowardly.

I would not say it’s a strong argument, I would say it’s an old argument that has resurfaced. Tell me the morality that was involved in Dresden. The Germans had zero air defence capability. And we went ahead and bombed Dresden. Take a look at the bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, we still did that…. So when we say that everything has to be reduced to a knife fight before there can be an element of morality, that’s not the issue at all. The issue is, let’s try to reduce all the countries with drones to a lowest common denominator, because what is the morality in an IED? Is there any difference in indiscriminately using an IED in terms of giving someone who’s about to be blown up by an IED indications and warning? A fair fight? Is the implementation of an IED a morality issue? I have not heard one, there has not been one article written about the morality of IEDs. And the reason there hasn’t been one article is because nobody wants to raise it as an issue. I raise it as an issue to say that the unmanned system with a weapon is as moral as an IED being implemented in an area where you know civilians are going to be innocently, asked to give their lives.

What of the concern that technology is running ahead of our ability to manage it? That drones are defining modern war, for example with the recent killing of Awlaki, or of labelling civilians as combatants? Are you pushing too far ahead?

When you talk about the element of surprise in warfare, typically you want to prevent the element of surprise in warfare because whoever has that, typically gets the upper hand.… Does technology mean… there’s an unfair advantage in warfare? Yeah, there is! If we had not dropped the atomic bomb would it have been worth, there are various estimates but the loss of 500,000 US lives to go in and take over the homeland of Japan? It was a very courageous decision made by President Truman and the National Security Adviser. The fact that there was, the Germans used V1 and V2 weapons starting June 6 1944 lasted a year, 10,000 innocently killed Brits, no defences. And that isn’t brought up either in terms of a moral outrage.

So to me, this is kind of like, here’s an opportunity to say what we can’t win on the battlefield, let’s see if we can’t win it in the court of public opinion and in the legal argument, what we cannot do…

So I don’t see how a few should be allowed to use any argument they can to try to shift what the element of surprise is and what they’re focused on right now because it seems to have a certain, I didn’t want to say sympathy but awareness that if we just focus on this technology, maybe it will force America, which uses UAVs with weapons more than any other country, to rethink or to not be allowed to continue to use it.

But I would say this, I am very much in favour of the continuation of using unmanned systems with precision weapons to fight the asymmetrical threat that we’re fighting today because it’s the perfect weapon. We have people that are unreasonable, we have people that do not follow the laws of armed conflict, and since you are in that kind of a conflict you might as well have a weapon system that if you lose it, you do not lose a life, you are losing a printed circuit board. And I will trade a printed circuit board for the life of a British soldier, an American soldier, Italian soldier, [and in] any other NATO country using UAVs with weapons today, for an extremist like Awlaki, Zarqawi, Gadaffi, because in his 25-vehicle convoy the very first vehicle that was taken out, was taken out by a UAV, so it stopped the convoy. And how about Osama bin Laden? They were there and part of it.

Go back to the Nuremberg Trials. It wasn’t a country that was the problem, it was the leadership, and so what we’re attacking is the leadership of some extremists and trying to neutralise them and they have an option to stop what they’re doing and reform and get back to the norms of a civilised world and society.

This is an edited interview

‘We have to do better’: Protester speaks out

Published

November 21, 2011

Written by

Chris Woods and Emma Slater

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Chris Cole is an activist and campaigner, pushing for accountability on armed drones. He writes the respected blog Drone Wars UK, which earlier this year uncovered details of the first civilian deaths caused by UK drones. Along with others he demonstrated outside the Unmanned Aircraft Systems conference held in London last week.

The conference appears to be mostly benign. Inside right now, NASA is talking about scientific applications for drones, there’s very little military kit on show. Why the demonstration?

We’re here because we want to challenge the growing use of armed drones around the world. There’s almost a drone strike, not every week but every day. And it’s happening outside the public arena, there’s very little public awareness of it, and very little public accountability for it. And it’s almost as though it’s acceptable and normal, and we want to come here today to say no, the public are against drones. One of the sessions here is to ‘overcome the public hysteria surrounding drones’. And the MoD has said they need to challenge the ‘perception issue’ of drones, because there’s an instinctive reaction among the public against drones, I think…. We don’t accept this idea of remote risk-free warfare as the drone industry likes to call it. It isn’t risk free. There are hundreds if not thousands of civilian casualties of drones. The worry is drones will make war more likely in the future. We’ve seen the US this year use drones in six countries, six different conflicts simultaneously, and many military experts say that simply wouldn’t have been possible without the use of drones. But the fear is, if there is no risk, if there is no cost through using unmanned systems, then their use will only increase and we’ll see a lot more warfare in the future.

Chris Cole of Drone Wars UK – photo by Chris Woods

Why has the armed drone become so widespread?

The rise of the drone – really it’s for a number of reasons. Technological, with their ability to condense and transmit huge amounts of data wirelessly, and the availability of military satellites. Economic reasons – drones are much cheaper than traditional manned or piloted aircraft. Drones cost about $10m or $11m – Reaper drones – a traditional fast jet would be about $60m. Political reasons – ever since the Vietnam war the public is even more reluctant to go to war when they see body bags and coffins come back. There’s been a real push to make undertaking war and launching attacks risk-free. These are the claims that these guys in [the conference] are using about drones – risk-free warfare. And we of course know that that’s simply not true. Risk free to those who are operating drones, but there are many many victims of drone strikes – hundreds, maybe thousands, of victims of drone strikes.

It’s important to realise that drones are used in three different ways. The first way is just the same way as manned aircraft. If you’re about to launch an attack or come under attack, you use drones or manned aircraft as cover.

It’s the second two ways, the other two ways that drones are being used, that are really causing civilian casualties and eroding human rights and civil rights. The first is through persistent presence, as they call it. The eyes in the sky where drones are loitering over an area or a compound or a town for days or even weeks, looking for what they call ‘targets of opportunity’. Looking at suspicious behaviour. And of course, what constitutes suspicious behaviour?

We’ve seen the US this year use drones in six countries, six different conflicts simultaneously, and many military experts say that simply wouldn’t have been possible without the use of drones. But the fear is, if there is no risk, if there is no cost through using unmanned systems, then their use will only increase and we’ll see a lot more warfare in the future.

Just this week it was great to see a protest – very brave people came out in the Yemeni capital Sana’a to protest against drone strikes and remember the young 16-year-old, Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike two weeks ago, the son of Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was targeted for assassination.

There are constant protests in Pakistan, there are protests in the United States just this week, or two weeks ago, 38 people went on trial for undertaking civil disobedience at Hancock air force base…And here in the UK protests are growing. So the task is to resist this future of drone wars. By being here today we’re doing this, and we must continue to resist the rise of the drone.

But British soldiers are asking for more drones, our military feels safer, more secure with a drone overhead.

The best way to secure our troops is not to have them engaged in battle. When we’re bringing this technology in, if there’s more warfare it’s not going to make our soldiers more safe. Drones aren’t a solution. They’re billed as this new tool to bring security and safety, not only to our troops but to the public. And the reality is that drones aren’t what they claim to be. We’ve already seen a huge backlash in Pakistan to the drones. And we”ll see that elsewhere. Rather than bringing more security to the world, drones will bring more instability.

Some 50 countries now have drones, there are 800 models on the market – isn’t the genie out of the bottle?

Yes – the legality, the ethics of this are lagging far, far behind. Nobody in the UK seems to be willing to take responsibility for this, certainly nobody globally does except the UN special rapporteur. They put out pleas for discussion and debate on this, yet nothing is done about it. The UK MOD put out their own report looking at the moral and legal and ethical aspect, they too said there needs to be a proper debate and our parliamentarians really need to take this on board. But they just seem to be too frightened to get involved in this issue. They seem to see it as too complicated. And that’s a real worry, when the technology and the military strategy is outpacing the morality and the ethics.

The best way to secure our troops is not to have them engaged in battle. Drones aren’t a solution.

The conference chair General Israel says that it is the nature of warfare for events to run ahead of policy. And that the military will always seek military advantage. Doesn’t he have a point?

I think it’s our responsibility to say no, to say that we have to gain control of this, because we are already seeing, you can’t just blithely say that’s the way things are when hundreds, maybe thousands of civilians are being killed, as we’re risking more and more warfare. We can’t just accept that’s the nature of the beast. We have to really challenge this if we want to make the world a more secure place. And that’s what we’re trying to do here, to bring peace and security to the world. And if the military and industry are saying ‘That’s not possible, we’ve got to seek military advantage, that’s the way things will always be’, then no. We have to do better than that.

Deaths bring to six total Britons killed by CIA drones

Published

November 18, 2011

Written by

Chris Woods

Web link

This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Two British nationals are believed to have been killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan, family and friends of the men have told the Press Association.

According to PA, Ibrahim Adam and Mohammed Azmir were killed in Waziristan three months or more ago. Their deaths were confirmed to PA by other sources.

According to the Bureau’s own data at least six British nationals have been killed since 2008 in CIA strikes. Among them is Azmir’s brother, Abdul Jabbar, killed in a US drone strike on October 4 2010.

Britons known to have died in CIA strikes in Pakistan

Nov 22 2008	Rashid Rauf,a British Al Qaeda-linked operative and a suspect in a 2006 plane-bombing plot, reported killed
Oct 4 2010	British ‘Taliban supporter’ Abdul Jabbar, brother of Mohammed Azmir, killed with nine others
Dec 10 2010	Two British Muslim converts, known only as Mr Stephen, aka Abu Bakr and Mr Dearsmith known as Mansoor Ahmed, killed in an attack on a car
Unknown – Sept 2011	Ibrahim Adam and Mohammed Azmir killed in an attack somewhere in Waziristan, according to families

Source: Bureau data

Ibrahim Adam’s father has reportedly confirmed that his 24-year old son was killed. He absconded from a control order in May 2007, and the family had not heard from him in a long time, according to reports.

Azmir, aged 37, was the subject of a UK Treasury order freezing his assets in February 2010. PA reported a close friend of Azmir’s family as saying: ‘They have taken it very badly – this is the second son who has been killed in a drone strike.’

LOCATION

Two al Shabaab leaders were possibly killed in an alleged US or French-launched air or drone strike in Afgoye, Lower Shabelle, local and international media reported. No sources reported civilian harm. Missiles were fired at a training camp in Afgoye, Lower Shabelle, according to al Shabaab. An initial report from the Suna Times stated: “US

Summary

US Forces, US Forces

Al-Shabaab

0–2

2–4