Small Wars Journal

Reports of Civilian Killed in U.S. Airstrike Are al-Shabaab Propaganda, DoD Says

Thu, 04/16/2020 - 11:08am

Reports of Civilian Killed in U.S. Airstrike are al-Shabaab Propaganda, DoD Says by Hope Hodge Seck – Military.com

Officials with U.S. Africa Command are disputing news reports that a civilian was killed during a "precision airstrike" near Jamaame, Somalia, this month, saying the reports are based on propaganda from a terrorist group.

The strike took place April 10 and killed one terrorist, according to a release from AFRICOM: "an al-Shabaab member complicit in the murder of at least six innocent Somalis."

Al-Shabaab is an al-Qaida-linked militant group based in East Africa. Its aims include the overthrow of the Somali government.

Two news outlets falsely reported civilian casualties in the recent strike, officials said in the release. One, they said, was the al-Shabaab-linked network SomaliMemo…

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