A US surveillance drone has been shot down in the southern Somali town of Bulo Marer today, according to Lower Shabelle Governor Abdelkadir Nur, who says militants in the town had been shooting at it for several hours and “finally they hit it.”
Al-Shabaab also issued a statement confirming that the drone crashed, though they didn’t include any details on how. They released photos of the crash site on Twitter later in the day.
Bulo Marer has been an al-Shabaab stronghold for quite some time, and was the site of the disastrous January attack in which French troops tried to rescue a hostage spy. Not only was the spy not rescued, but at least eight civilians were killed in the botched raid. Al-Shabaab also claimed to have captured another French soldier in the attack, though that has been disputed by French officials.
US drones are a common sight in southern Somalia, with surveillance drones occasionally being replaced by attack drones. The Pentagon said they assume the drone just crashed on its own, and that it was flying too high to be easily shot down. Still, the ever-present drones seem like a magnet for gunfire, and militants have a strong incentive to figure out ways to down them.
…in addition to quality cameras in case you catch a US funded invader eating your brother, it would be prudent to include anti-aircraft weapons in any humanitarian aid package…
And, of course, Somalia, Syria, and Afghanistan need bases in Utah with which to fly drones over Nevada… …you know, to stabilize-the-region and stuff. Let's say Virginia is negotiable.
I guess anti-drone weapons will be developed soon – I also guess it is no big or time consuming problem.
Of course it will be followed by development of anti-drone weapon defense systems etc. etc.
You did well understand the US defense politics. 😉
Best news all week!
Well done, Somalians! Defend your piece of sky.
Will Americans rise to the challenge when this technology is used against us at home?
Excellent news!! Finally David triumphs over Goliath. May many more bite the dust. Hip Hip Hooray!!!!
as i said, the more that bite the dust the better. HipHipHooray!!!
Boom ! Crash ! Spear chuckers add more bright feathers to their headbands.