US AFRICOM Resumes Somalia Airstrikes After They Admitted to Civilian Deaths

Officials say new airstrike was coordinated with the Somali govt

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.

Author: Jason Ditz

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.