WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th April, 2019) A US military review has concluded that two civilians were killed in an airstrike in Somali last year, United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release on Friday.
"During a commander-directed review of airstrikes conducted in Somalia since 2017, US Africa Command learned an April 1, 2018 airstrike killed two civilians," AFRICOM said.
AFRICOM ordered a review of all of the airstrikes it conducted in the country since 2017 due to an increase in its attacks, as well as continued interest by Amnesty International and the US Congress in information on civilian casualties, the release added.
US forces conducted the deadly airstrike near the Somali city of El Burr on April 1, 2018, in a bid to degrade the al-Shabab terrorist group.
AFRICOM said in an initial assessment after the attack that its strike had caused no civilian casualties and had left five militants dead.
However, the additional review found several mistakes in those conclusions.
"On March 30, 2019, the command was notified about the results of a post-strike internal assessment conducted in April 2018 that found credible evidence of the two civilian casualties," AFRICOM said. "Unfortunately, the finding was not properly reported to US Africa Command headquarters."
The review found that four al-Shabab militants were killed in the airstrike, along with the two civilians.
"Because of the reporting error, US Africa Command was not informed of the assessment's conclusion and subsequently the information was not reported to external authorities, such as the host nation and [US] Congress," AFRICOM said.
The US military has notified the Somali government of its new findings, the release said. AFRICOM has executed 28 airstrikes so far in Somalia in 2019, compared to 47 in 2018, and 35 in 2017, it added.
Al-Shabab emerged in Somalia in 2006 and has claimed numerous terrorist attacks throughout the region. The group has sworn allegiance to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization (banned in Russia) and is trying to overthrow Somalia's Western-backed central government.
