Having just last week confirmed that one of their airstrikes in Somalia had killed civilians, US African Command (AFRICOM) confirmed a Tuesday airstrike against central Somalia, the first new strike launched since the admission.
This was the first strike after the brief pause that surrounded the
admission of killings, and while the statement confirmed that there are
procedures of some sort in place for post-strike analysis, they
suggested those would only be used “if warranted.”
In reality it appears little has changed, with officials saying they
believed one “terrorist” was killed, unnamed as usual, and that they
don’t think any civilian casualties happened.
AFRICOM added that the attack was carried out in coordination with the
Somali government, which seems to be a particularly important point for
them to emphasize, giving it the appearance of legality.
US AFRICOM Resumes Somalia Airstrikes After They Admitted to Civilian Deaths
Officials say new airstrike was coordinated with the Somali govt
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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