US military blamed for using drone strikes against "unarmed civilians" in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least 80 percent of US drone strikes in Somalia target unarmed civilians, Al-Shabaab militants have said, adding that "the campaign has lost meaning".

In a three-page press statement, Saturday, the Al-Qaeda linked extremist group insisted most casualties of persistent drone strikes "are innocent civilians" who have "nothing to do with us".

To aid Somali National Army [SNA] and AMISOM ground forces, the US military through AFRICOM has persistently increased air surveillance, targeting Al-Shabaab in central and southern Somalia.

Last year, AFRICOM conducted a record 63 airstrikes in Somalia, killing dozens of militants, who have been trying to topple fragile UN-backed Somalia government, in remote villages, reports indicate.

And in the last two months, the US military has unleashed 18 airstrikes within the same regions, the highest ever within the same period, AFRICOM said.

Dubbed the "campaign of carnage" against "unarmed civilians", the statement saw Al-Shabaab accuse US Africa Command of “portraying civilian casualties as ‘legitimate military targets".

Executed after due diligence including intelligence gathering, the US military has often maintained remarks such as "no civilian was injured or killed" whenever issuing statements after drone raids.

But in the statement signed by Ali Mohamud Rageh known as [Ali Dhere], the de facto spokesman of the group, Al-Shabaab terms US military claims as "far-fetched propaganda", calling for "respect to innocent" Muslims.

According to the group's "statistics office", at least 82.7 percent of drone strikes victims in the last 34 months are "civilians without affiliation to Al-Shabaab".

And 37 percent of them were poor farmers, 24.3 percent women, and children and 21.4 nomads, the group said in the latest counter against the US military.

Incidentally, the claims come after US Africa Command unveiled Sgt. Maj. Richard D. Thresher as Command Senior Enlisted Leader, whose sole duties will be to advise the force.

Gen. Stephen Townsend, AFRICOM commander, said: "I want him to be a senior enlisted advisor to me. My candid advisor."

Kunyo Barrow is the latest region to witness US air raids, in which two suspected terrorists were killed. Last week, AFRICOM announced the death of an unidentified Al-Shabaab militant, linked with Jan. 5 Manda Airfield attack in Kenya.

And on Monday, Somalia's telecommunication company, Hormuud, also accused US military of killing their employee, Mahamud Haji Sirad, in one of the airstrikes, although AFRICOM said: "We are investigating the matter".

The group lost grip of the capital, Mogadishu in 2011 but it has been launching sporadic attacks lately, killing dozens of people among them civilians and security forces.

But the US says: "Our command assesses the al-Qaeda-aligned group lacks the capability to strike the U.S. homeland due to the persistent pressure placed on the group led by our African partners".

According to the UN, the Somalia-based militants have recently been leaving remote villages for urban centers, due to unending US airstrikes in their territories.

However, the group also dismissed such assertions in the statement, insisting that "we have a capacity to attack the US. We did it at Ballidogle and Manda Airfield. Our boys are strong".

The Manda Airfield raid left three Americans dead. It was the first successful attack on US military base in Africa with Townsend acknowledging that "we were caught unprepared".

Currently, there are over 21,000 peacekeeping troops in Somalia, but the AU has started scaling them down with a focus on completely withdrawing by 2022.

GAROWE ONLINE