A drone strike that hit southern Somalia on Tuesday may have caused civilian casualties, according to Somali media reports.
Garowe Online reported that the strike hit the Lower Shabelle Region, which neighbors Mogadishu, in an area controlled by al-Shabaab militants. The report did not say how many civilian casualties were caused by the strike, which was likely carried out by US Africa Command.
So far, AFRICOM hasn’t said it launched an airstrike in the area that day, but the command typically reports airstrikes a few days after they occur. Turkish drones are also known to carry out strikes against al-Shabaab in Somalia, but on a much less frequent basis.
Garowe Online also reported that the US-backed Somali government claimed it killed seven al-Shabaab fighters in an operation with support from AFRICOM, though it was conducted further north in the central Hiraan Region.
If the drone strike in Lower Shabelle is confirmed to have been carried out by the US, it would mark at least the 84th US airstrike launched in Somalia this year, as the Trump administration has been bombing the country at a record pace. The current administration has shattered the record for total US airstrikes in Somalia in a single year, which President Trump previously set at 63 during his first term in 2019.
Last month, AFRICOM took credit for an airstrike in the northern Sanag region that killed a prominent clan elder. AFRICOM claimed he was an al-Shabaab weapons dealer, but that was strongly denied by family members and locals who say the victim, Abdullahi Omar Abdi, was known as a peacemaker.
The US has also been bombing the ISIS affiliate in northeastern Somalia’s Puntland region, where it is backing local forces. AFRICOM said this week that it launched a strike in Puntland on October 20.
