Amnesty International on Tuesday claimed that three men killed in a US military Somalia air strike in March after being targeted as “Al-Shabaab terrorists” were in fact civilian farmers with no evidence of links to the armed group.
The human rights group noted that despite being informed in May of its flawed assessment of at least one of the men as a fighter, the US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) failed to contact his relatives to investigate further.
Between them, the men left behind 19 children.
“It’s bad enough that the US Africa Command appears not to know who its air strikes are actually killing and maiming in its secretive war in Somalia. But it’s reprehensible that AFRICOM offers no way for those affected to contact it and has failed to reach out to the families of victims after its version of events was called into question in this case,” said Abdullahi Hassan, Amnesty International’s Somalia Researcher.
“This is just one of many cases of the US military wantonly tarnishing large parts of the Somali population with the ‘terrorist’ label. No thought is given to the civilian victims or the plight of their grieving families left behind,” he added in a statement issued in Nairobi.
Between 3pm and 4pm on 18 March 2019, a US air strike hit a Toyota Surf SUV near the hamlet of Abdow Dibile, around 5km from Afgoye in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region.
The three men traveling in the vehicle were farmers returning from their farms to their homes in Mogadishu and Leego and Yaaq Bariwayne in Lower Shabelle.
The impact destroyed the vehicle, instantly killing the driver, Abdiqadir Nur Ibrahim (46), and one passenger, Ibrahim Mohamed Hirey (30).
AFRICOM alleged the victims were “three terrorists,” without citing any evidence.
It also stated AFRICOM “was aware of reports alleging civilian casualties,” and would review any relevant information about the incident.
Amnesty International claimed that they shared further information about the case with AFRICOM in August, but AFRICOM has refused to back down on its claim that the three men were “terrorists”
JK/as/APA