Amnesty reports civilian casualties in Somalia as a result of US airstrikes

Amnesty International on Wednesday reported evidence of two civilian deaths in Somalia from a US airstrike in February.

The report details casualties from two separate airstrike attacks. On February 2, a family in the town of Jilib was eating dinner when a warhead struck their home. The report stated that, “Nurto Kusow Omar Abukar, an 18-year-old woman, was struck in the head by a heavy metal fragment from the munition and killed instantly. The strike also injured her two younger sisters, Fatuma and Adey, aged 12 and seven, and their grandmother, Khadija Mohamed Gedow, aged around 70.”

The second death occurred on February 24, when a hellfire missile hit a farm in Jilib, killing 53-year old Mohamud Salad Mohamud. Amnesty stated that Mohamud was a contributing member of multiple humanitarian organizations, “A senior Hormuud official expressed disbelief that Mohamud Salad Mohamud had been targeted, since he had previously worked for international humanitarian organizations.”

The families have not received reparations from the US government.