#africom-somalia

[dodypaz]

EEUU niega haber matado a médicos cubanos en Somalia, mientras que Bruno arma su escándalo en X

“Mientras que EEUU luego de una investigación hecha por AFRICOM plantea que en el ataque no murieron civiles, el canciller Bruno Rodríguez dice que el informe no dice nada nuevo”   A través de un comunicado difundido por la agencia EFE, El Mando Militar de EEUU en África (AFRICOM) negó, que los médicos cubanos Assel Herrera Correa y Landy Rodríguez Hernández hubiesen muerto a causa del ataque…

[emptyanddark]

The exclusive documents and interviews with more than 45 current and former U.S. and Somali military personnel and government officials, victims’ relatives, and experts offer an unprecedented window into the U.S. drone war in Somalia, an investigator’s efforts to excuse the killing of a woman and child, and a “reporting error” that kept those deaths secret for more than a year from Congress, the press, and the American people. The Intercept’s investigation reveals that the strike was conducted under loosened rules of engagement sought by the Pentagon and approved by the Trump White House, and that no one was ever held accountable for the civilian deaths.

For all their technology and supposed expertise, the Americans were confused, and some were inexperienced, according to a Pentagon investigation obtained by The Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act. The inquiry is the first such document to be made public about a U.S. drone strike in Africa. It reveals that after months of “target development,” the Americans suddenly found themselves in a mad rush to kill people who posed no threat to the United States in a war that Congress never declared. They argued among themselves about even the most basic details, like how many passengers were in the vehicle. And in the end, they got it wrong. The Americans couldn’t tell a man from a woman, which might have affected their decision to conduct the strike. They also missed the 4-year-old child whose presence should have caused them to stand down.

In the joint operations center, the Americans quickly realized their initial strike had failed to kill all the passengers and decided to eliminate what the investigation file refers to as a sole “survivor running away from vehicle post the first engagement.” But the “survivor” was actually two people: Luul and Mariam. Seconds later, another missile screamed down from the sky.

About 200 feet away, Qasim found what remained of Luul. Her left leg was mangled, and the top of her head was missing. She died clutching Mariam, whose body was peppered with tiny shards of shrapnel. Qasim tore off a swath of his sarong and began gathering up small pieces of his sister. Stunned and grieving, he spent hours searching for fragments of her body along the dirt road, working by the glare of his car’s headlights as the sky darkened. Finally, he bundled Luul’s and Mariam’s remains and brought them home. Luul’s body was so mutilated that it was impossible to properly wash, as is required in Islam. Instead, he wrapped her with care in a shroud and buried Luul and Mariam together in a village cemetery. The next day, locals living near the strike site called Qasim. They had found the top of Luul’s skull, complete with hair and a delicate gold teardrop dangling from one ear.

That same day — April 2 — U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, announced it had killed “five terrorists” and destroyed one vehicle and that “no civilians were killed in this airstrike.” The Somali press immediately said otherwise. By the following month, the task force had appointed an investigating officer to sort it all out. He quickly determined that his unit had killed an “adult female and child” but expressed doubt that their identities would ever be known. 

[saxafimedianetwork]

U.S. Ambassador To Somalia Larry André To Retire

It is unclear if [@US2SOMALIA] Mr. Andre’s early retirement directly results from his strict adherence to the “One #Somalia” policy and implementation of the #NDAA 2023 objectives in #Somaliland to advance the national security interest of the #UnitedStat

According to sources, the United States Ambassador to Somalia, Mr. Larry André, is retiring in the next few months. Mr. André, who has been appointed on February 2021 to replace Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, is leaving before his term is up, an unusual timing that could signal a deeper issue with his performance as the United States Representative in volatile Somalia. Ambassador André has doubled…

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Gary Wilson

Today’s socialists face the questions that confronted earlier generations of socialists, both in the U.S. and worldwide, especially the question of imperialism and imperialist war. What is the meaning of the word imperialism?

What position should you take on the wars now raging in Palestine, Yemen, and Syria and the threatening spread of a U.S. war on Iran? What about the U.S./NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine? Or U.S. AFRICOM’s operations in Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Niger? Or Washington’s threats targeting Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea? Or the war buildup against China?

[thoughtlessarse]

The American military has been carrying out a continuous military campaign in Somalia since the 2000s, launching nearly 300 drone strikes and commando raids over the past 17 years. In one April 2018 air attack, American troops killed three, and possibly five, civilians with a pair of missiles. A woman and child were among the dead, according to a U.S. military investigation, but the same report concluded their identities might never be known. Last year, my investigation for The Intercept exposed the details of this disastrous attack. The woman and child survived the initial strike but were killed by the second missile. They were 22-year-old Luul Dahir Mohamed and her 4-year-old daughter, Mariam Shilow Muse. For six years, the family has tried to contact the U.S. government, including through an online civilian casualty reporting portal run by U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, but they have never received a response. “They know innocent people were killed, but they’ve never told us a reason or apologized,” Abdi Dahir Mohamed, one of Luul’s brothers, told me last year. “No one has been held accountable.” A new report by the Center for Civilians in Conflict, or CIVIC, shared exclusively with The Intercept, underlines what Mohamed told me: Civilian victims and survivors of U.S. drone strikes in Somalia say that attaining justice in the form of official acknowledgment, apologies, and financial compensation would help them move on from the trauma they experienced. But after almost 20 years of drone strikes, even in cases in which the Pentagon has admitted to killing innocent people, the U.S. has failed to apologize to any Somali survivors, much less offer amends. “The civilians we interviewed described not only devastating physical harm, like deaths and injuries, but also significant economic burdens and long-lasting psychological trauma,” Madison Hunke, CIVIC’s U.S. program officer, told The Intercept. “Most respondents agreed that justice comes down to a perpetrator of harm being held accountable for their actions and the victims being treated with the dignity they deserve.”

continue reading

[nsfwhiphop]

IMPORTANT REMINDER for CIA & MI6 - Here's why Russia is compelled to launch a nuclear strike on America and England. You persistently interfere in Somalia and terrorize African nations to plunder their natural resources. Your insatiable greed has led to your downfall, and now you face nuclear war. It's the end for America and Britain. Your disrespectful policies in Africa, which you used to exploit, are now over. We will put an end to this entire charade and dismantle America and Britain.

Are you my witness? Do you see this disrespect? Can you explain why the Commander of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is operating in Somali territory?

[libertariantaoist]

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 6/5/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

The FBI is looking to gather new information about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported on Thursday. AWC

Rodolphe Jaar was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the plot to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021. AJ

Mexico

Mexican TV has reported that a militant affiliated with Mexico’s Gulf Cartel was spotted carrying an advanced rocket launcher, the same type that the US has shipped thousands of to Ukraine. AWC

Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said early Monday that Ukraine began a “large-scale offensive” by launching attacks along five sections of the frontlines in the eastern Donbas region. AWC

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey has not changed its position on refusing to allow Sweden in the alliance. Boston Herald 

The US will focus its efforts on arming Ukraine and not attempting to bring the war to a negotiated settlement, America’s top diplomat said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out a plan to massively expand Kiev’s military before talks begin. AWC

The Pentagon Thursday said it’s awarded a contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX to ship Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine. AWC

 Ukrainian soldiers trained by NATO and armed with Western weapons will serve as the “tip of the spear” during the upcoming counteroffensive against Russian forces, according to the Washington Post. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said this support represents the “next level” of security assistance. The Institute

The Kremlin says it will not reenter the New Start treaty until Washington lifts its hostile policy towards Russia. Fox News

Zelensky says Ukraine is ready to launch its counteroffensive. The Hill

China

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced Thursday that the US and Taiwan signed the first trade agreement under a new economic initiative that was launched last year. AWC

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu delivered a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and said a conflict between the US and China would be an “unbearable disaster,” a warning that comes amid soaring tensions between the two powers. AWC

US Indo-Pacific Command accused a Chinese warship of acting in an “unsafe manner” when it passed a US Navy guided-missile destroyer that was transiting the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian frigate on Saturday. AWC

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the One China policy is still in effect. Politico

Germany will send two warships to the Indo-Pacific in 2024. Reuters

Iran

Iran’s navy commander said Friday that Tehran was working to form a naval alliance with several Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iraq. AWC

Somalia

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced that it launched an airstrike in Somalia on June 1, marking the second US bombing in the country within a week and the third since May 20. AWC

Read More

[sa7abnews]

U.S. Has Never Apologized to Somali Drone Strike Victims — Even When It Admitted to Killing Civilians

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/06/u-s-has-never-apologized-to-somali-drone-strike-victims-even-when-it-admitted-to-killing-civilians/

U.S. Has Never Apologized to Somali Drone Strike Victims — Even When It Admitted to Killing Civilians

The American military has been carrying out a continuous military campaign in Somalia since the 2000s, launching nearly 300 drone strikes and commando raids over the past 17 years.

In one April 2018 air attack, American troops killed three, and possibly five, civilians with a pair of missiles. A woman and child were among the dead, according to a U.S. military investigation, but the same report concluded their identities might never be known.

Last year, my investigation for The Intercept exposed the details of this disastrous attack. The woman and child survived the initial strike but were killed by the second missile. They were 22-year-old Luul Dahir Mohamed and her 4-year-old daughter, Mariam Shilow Muse.

Related Secret Pentagon Investigation Found No One at Fault in Drone Strike That Killed Woman and 4-Year-Old

For six years, the family has tried to contact the U.S. government, including through an online civilian casualty reporting portal run by U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, but they have never received a response. “They know innocent people were killed, but they’ve never told us a reason or apologized,” Abdi Dahir Mohamed, one of Luul’s brothers, told me last year. “No one has been held accountable.”

A new report by the Center for Civilians in Conflict, or CIVIC, shared exclusively with The Intercept, underlines what Mohamed told me: Civilian victims and survivors of U.S. drone strikes in Somalia say that attaining justice in the form of official acknowledgment, apologies, and financial compensation would help them move on from the trauma they experienced.

But after almost 20 years of drone strikes, even in cases in which the Pentagon has admitted to killing innocent people, the U.S. has failed to apologize to any Somali survivors, much less offer amends.

“The civilians we interviewed described not only devastating physical harm, like deaths and injuries, but also significant economic burdens and long-lasting psychological trauma,” Madison Hunke, CIVIC’s U.S. program officer, told The Intercept. “Most respondents agreed that justice comes down to a perpetrator of harm being held accountable for their actions and the victims being treated with the dignity they deserve.”

CIVIC interviewed 38 individuals who identified as civilian victims of U.S. airstrikes in Somalia, as well as eight civil society experts who work with or represent the injured and survivors. Twenty-seven of the 38 lost a family member in an attack. Many spoke of justice in terms of U.S. accountability, including acknowledgment of the deaths, apologies, and financial amends, specifically a Somali custom known as diya (blood money) which is traditionally used to resolve disputes.

“For me, justice would mean the U.S. talking and sitting with the families of the civilian victims harmed in its airstrikes,” one interviewee told CIVIC. “Then the U.S. should financially compensate those families. That kind of move would eventually heal the wounded hearts.”

After more than 17 years of drone strikes and ground attacks in Somalia, the U.S. has carried out 288 declared strikes. AFRICOM claims to have killed just five civilians in that period, including Luul and Mariam. (The military has never referred to the mother and daughter by name.) Airwars, the U.K.-based airstrike monitoring group, says the real number may be more than 3,000 percent higher.

Following The Intercept investigation last year, two dozen human rights organizations — 14 Somali and 10 international groups — called on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to compensate Luul and Mariam’s family. This year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Reps. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn; Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., joined the effort.

“The Department of Defense is currently reviewing this matter, and we will not comment further at this time,” Pentagon spokesperson Lisa Lawrence said of the case.

The Defense Department’s response has compounded the trauma suffered by survivors, says Clare Brown, the deputy director of Victim Advocates International, an organization that supports victims of international crimes that is representing the families of Somali drone strike victims, including Luul’s.

“The silence of AFRICOM and the U.S. Department of Defense towards the families has been really hurtful,” Brown told The Intercept. “As their lawyers, we know that there are discussions and even possibly some movement happening behind the scenes — but no one has reached out or spoken to the families.” Brown and other lawyers are the families’ only source of information. “It’s upsetting for them to feel like passive observers in this process they are actually at the center of,” Brown said.

The forms of harm chronicled in the CIVIC report include the death of a relative, physical injury, property damage, and economic hardship experienced by victims and survivors of U.S. drone strikes. 

Fourteen interviewees reported that they or family members experienced ongoing psychological trauma because of the attacks. “A considerable amount of time has elapsed since the incident, but I still experience nightmares,” one man whose sister was killed in a strike told CIVIC. “The incident and the gruesome details of what happened to her deeply affect me.” 

CIVIC’s research found that a majority of civilian victims and survivors indicated a preference for individual amends like condolence payments or financial assistance over community-level compensation, such as improving local infrastructure. “The report is a good reminder that we can’t know what justice means to people unless we ask them,” said Brown. “The U.S. should also be proactively trying to have these conversations with communities affected by drone strikes — and hopefully this report will create the impetus for them to find ways to do that.”

CIVIC’s report includes 11 recommendations for the U.S. government, including adoption of a comprehensive approach to accountability and amends, prioritization of individual amends to victims and survivors of attacks, and the utilization of $3 million authorized annually by Congress for ex gratia payments to victims and survivors of civilian harm.

In April, one year past its congressionally-mandated deadline, the Pentagon released its 2022 annual report on civilian casualties. It concluded that U.S. military operations in 2022 killed no civilians, and also noted that the Defense Department did not make any ex gratia payments to civilians harmed in its operations in 2022 or the families of those killed in strikes from previous years. This follows a single ex gratia payment made in 2021 and none issued in 2020.

It’s impossible to know if any payments to survivors were made last year because the Defense Department missed its May 1 deadline for releasing its 2023 civilian casualty report. Lawrence told The Intercept that the Pentagon is still reviewing data and expected the overdue report to be released “in the near term.”

In the meantime, Somali survivors continue to wait, wondering if the Pentagon will ever apologize for killing their relatives.

“Since 2020, when Congress first authorized the $3 million annually for ex gratia, the Department has reported just one single payment of just a few thousand dollars has been made, and that’s despite the many credible cases of harm the DoD has already publicly acknowledged,” CIVIC’s Hunke told The Intercept. “The U.S. has the tools it needs to make these payments, so it’s a question of political will.”

“The lack of payments in Somalia, as well as in other places like Iraq and Syria, speaks volumes about the DoD’s commitment to meaningfully respond to harm caused by its operations,” Hunke said. The post U.S. Has Never Apologized to Somali Drone Strike Victims — Even When It Admitted to Killing Civilians .

[adiariomx]

El ejército de EEUU niega que su ataque aéreo de febrero de 2024 a Jilib en Somalia haya causado la muerte a dos médicos cubanos secuestrados allí por...

[moazdijkot]

US strike kills 5 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia, US Africa Command says #news #breakingnews

CNN  —  A US strike in Somalia killed five al-Shabaab fighters on Wednesday, US Africa Command said in a statement. The strike was carried out at the request of the Somali government and was a “collective self-defense strike,” according to AFRICOM. The strike was carried out approximately 300 miles north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. No civilians were injured or killed, AFRICOM said,…

[cryptoguys657]

US strike kills 5 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia, US Africa Command says

CNN  —  A US strike in Somalia killed five al-Shabaab fighters on Wednesday, US Africa Command said in a statement. The strike was carried out at the request of the Somali government and was a “collective self-defense strike,” according to AFRICOM. The strike was carried out approximately 300 miles north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. No civilians were injured or killed, AFRICOM said,…

[gamegill]

US strike kills 5 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia, US Africa Command says

CNN  —  A US strike in Somalia killed five al-Shabaab fighters on Wednesday, US Africa Command said in a statement. The strike was carried out at the request of the Somali government and was a “collective self-defense strike,” according to AFRICOM. The strike was carried out approximately 300 miles north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. No civilians were injured or killed, AFRICOM said,…

[mubashirnews]

US strike kills 5 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia, US Africa Command says

CNN  —  A US strike in Somalia killed five al-Shabaab fighters on Wednesday, US Africa Command said in a statement. The strike was carried out at the request of the Somali government and was a “collective self-defense strike,” according to AFRICOM. The strike was carried out approximately 300 miles north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. No civilians were injured or killed, AFRICOM said,…

[gamekai]

US strike kills 5 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia, US Africa Command says

CNN  —  A US strike in Somalia killed five al-Shabaab fighters on Wednesday, US Africa Command said in a statement. The strike was carried out at the request of the Somali government and was a “collective self-defense strike,” according to AFRICOM. The strike was carried out approximately 300 miles north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. No civilians were injured or killed, AFRICOM said,…

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 8/23/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 8/23/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

Russia

On Sunday, Denmark and the Netherlands became the first countries to pledge they will provide Ukraine with US-made F-16 fighter jets following formal US approval of the transfer. AWC

A Ukrainian military official suggested to The Washington Post that Ukrainian forces are not documenting where they’re using US-provided cluster bombs in Ukraine despite assurances the Biden administration said it received. AWC

Warsaw plans to buy nearly 100 Apache attack helicopters manufactured by Boeing for $12 billion. Until Poland receives the helicopters, the US will provide Apaches to its NATO ally. The Institute

US and Western officials speaking to The New York Times blamed Ukraine’s struggling counteroffensive on Kyiv’s tactics, saying Ukrainian troops are too spread out. AWC

Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that Russia has been moving nuclear weapons into Belarus and said the deployment changes the “security architecture” of the region. AWC

Airports in Moscow temporarily halted service for the second day in a row on Tuesday as Ukrainian drones again targeted the region, part of Kyiv’s strategy to bring the war to Russian civilians. AWC

The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces destroyed a US-made military boat carrying a Ukrainian assault team near Snake Island in the northern Black Sea. AWC

China

On Monday, Australia’s biggest warship participated in drills with the Philippines and the US in the disputed South China Sea as part of Canberra and Manila’s first-ever bilateral amphibious exercises. AWC

China on Monday hit back at the US, South Korea, and Japan after the leaders of the three nations accused Beijing of “dangerous and aggressive” behavior in the South China Sea. AWC

Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a cruise missile test while aboard a naval ship on Monday. Concurrently, the US and South Korea began yet another series of military exercises which Pyongyang views as rehearsals for war and regime change. The Institute

Middle East

Israeli airstrikes near the Syrian capital of Damascus late Monday wounded at least one Syrian soldier, Syria’s SANA news agency has reported. AWC

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that Saudi border forces are systematically murdering migrants attempting to cross into the Kingdom from Yemen. The monitoring group said killing refugees had become an official policy of Riyadh. The Institute

Africa

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release last week that it launched an airstrike in Somalia on August 15. AWC

Algeria’s national radio reported on Monday that France is planning a military intervention in Niger if Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum is not released by the junta that ousted him in a July 26 coup. AWC

Read More