Incident date
June 5, 2019
LOCATION
Outskirts of Tortoroow, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaThe US military carried out an airstrike targeting an al Shabaab fighter in Tortoroow, according to a press release issued two days later by US Africa Command. It was locally alleged that a named civilian public transport driver died in the attack. However AFRICOM later insisted thast the victim was “a high-level, al-Shabaab financier” and
Summary
Incident date
May 9, 2019
LOCATION
Farsooley, Lower Shabelle, Somalia“Multiple civilians” were alleged killed in a claimed US airstrike on Farsooley, according to reports which appeared to have originated with al Shabaab. AFRICOM publicly rejected the claim a year later. Hussein Mohamed, a local journalist stringing for the New York Times and others, tweeted on May 10th that “Al Shabab media reported that US
Summary
Incident date
April 4, 2019
LOCATION
Ugunji, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaA ground operation struck a minibus carrying civilians, killing one woman and injuring up to six others, local media reported. While one source claimed that the attack was conducted by drone, others said it was a ground operation, involving Somali and possibly also US troops. AFRICOM later denied responsibility for civilian harm on the grounds
Summary
Incident date
March 18, 2019
LOCATION
Laantabuur or Abdow Dibile, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaUp to four civilians were killed in a US strike in the Lower Shabelle region, international media and investigating NGOs reported from the ground, though US Africa Command claimed that the strike had only killed three “terrorists.” It later again officially denied causing any civilian casualties. Initially, allegations of civilian harm came from a Reuters
Summary
Incident date
February 23, 2019
LOCATION
حرمك, Kunya Barrow, Middle Juba, SomaliaA father and young child were reported killed in a US airstrike on the al Shabaab-occupied town of Kunyo Barrow. AFRICOM later admitted the deaths of two civilians along with three injuries in the event in its first quarterly civilian harm report of April 2020. US Africa Command first reported on February 24th 2019 that
Summary
Incident date
October 18, 2019
LOCATION
Bulo Haji, Lower Juba, SomaliaIn an alleged civilian harm event previously unrecorded by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a declassified AFRICOM report obtained in Spring 2019 identified a claimed event near Kismayo in October 2018. According to Casimada, “The strike against Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab group was conducted in Bulo-Haji area near the town, killing at least 3 children, a
Summary
Incident date
August 20, 2018
LOCATION
Basra, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaAn investigation by journalist Amanda Sperber identified a possible US airstrike near Basra around the time of Eid in August 2018, which allegedly killed between 10 and 12 members of the same family. Airwars has provided a relatively wide date range for this event, based on limited reporting. The investigation, published by The Nation in
Summary
Incident date
August 11, 2018
LOCATION
Leego, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaLocal reporters alleged that US and Somali forces had killed four civilians including a mother and child, during an operation in Leego. Caasimada alleged that the civilians were killed around midnight, by Somali troops accompanied by ‘white US officers’, and claimed that the attacking forces had flown there from a military base to the north.
Summary
Incident date
August 2, 2018
LOCATION
Gobanle (Gobaale), Lower Shabelle, SomaliaThree civilians were reportedly killed in a US strike in Gobanle village, according to Amnesty International – though US Africa Command claimed that only four “terrorists” were killed. However an AFRICOM declassified assessment of the event published in July 2019 indicated that the US itself was unaware of the identities of those in the vehicle
Summary
Incident date
May 9, 2018
LOCATION
Bulcida Macalinka (northeast), Lower Shabelle, SomaliaFive civilians were reportedly killed in a US and/or Somali-waged ground operation – possibly also involving airpower – in the Lower Shabelle region, local and international media reported. The US denied allegations of harm on several occasions. The raid was reportedly carried out by Somalia commandos, with the US saying American troops supported the mission
Summary
Incident date
January 18, 2018
LOCATION
Jameeco Jilyaale near Beled ul Amin, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaThe 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
Summary
Incident date
November 14, 2017
LOCATION
Idow Jalaad, near Leego, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaA US strike killed “several” al Shabaab fighters in the seventh aerial attack in Somalia in six days. Lower Shabelle’s deputy governor told Voice of America the strike had killed six al Shabaab fighters in the village of Idow Jalad. A statement from US Africa Command said the strike was carried out “in coordination with
Summary
Incident date
November 10, 2017
LOCATION
2km north of Baasra, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaUS forces carried out a strike against al Shabaab at approximately 8pm local Somalia time killing “several” fighters, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said. It was also alleged by local officials that three civilians had died. The strike hit the Lower Shabelle region. A Somali military official told Voice of America the strike, which they said
Summary
Incident date
July 2, 2017
LOCATION
O'wdhiile, 55 miles south of Mogadishu, Lower Shabelle, SomaliaAn airstrike reportedly killed up to two civilians in O’wdhille, a village about 55 miles south of Mogadishu, according to findings from a field investigation by The Nation. Reporter Amanda Sperber detailed the account of Osman [not his real name] whose relatives were reportedly killed in the strike: “Around 5 pm in early July 2017, Osman
Summary
Incident date
April 11, 2016
LOCATION
1.2 km east of Yontoy, Lower Juba, SomaliaThree civilians were reportedly killed in a US drone strike in Lower Juba. The attack began late on April 11 and continued into the small hour of April 12, Lt Col Michelle Baldanza of AFRICOM later said in a statement. The camp “posed an imminent threat to US personnel,” she said. Somali officials allege the