Public backlash continues to grow following a horrific US drone strike targeting Qunyo Barrow, Somalia. The strikes said to have been carried out by US predator drones besieged the farming community in Qunyo Barrow during the midst of the night after Magrib (evening) prayers.
At least six people where confirmed to have been wounded in the drone raid carried out by US AFRICOM. The victims are said to have included two women and four young children.
US AFRICOM took credit for the drone strike, claiming they “conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab terrorists in vicinity of Qunyo Barrow, Somalia, May 17.” The statement went went further and stated “The command’s initial assessment concluded this airstrike killed two (2) terrorists. U.S. Africa Command currently assesses no civilians were injured or killed as a result”.
However these claims where soon debunked by the least likely source. No other than the pro militant website dubbed Somali Memo as the bloodied bodies of women and young children flooded the web, which spread like wildfire sparking unprecedented backlash and fury across the global Somali community.
Former minister of internal security and current member of parliament, Abdirizak Mohamed went on a tirade via twitter directly accusing US drone raids of indiscriminately killing and maiming civilians. The former minister went forward by demanding AFRICOM be held accountable for there atrocities in Somalia.
In the midst of all this public scrutiny, AFRICOM is yet to accept accountability for there actions which have once again gravely afflicted civilians, despite the overwhelming evidence. This has led to more fury both in and outside of Somalia.
The US has been conducting drone strikes in Somalia since 2007 with no end in sight. This covert reign of terror has only intensified since the Trump administration took the helms of the white house in 2017.
However despite 13 years of relentless US aerial bombardment, the Pentagon is yet to produce a single piece of evidence to prove there war on terror in Somalia is actually yielding any results. There hasn’t been a single satellite photo of a dead militant or bombed out training camp provided to the public or rights groups.
However when civilians are killed in US drone raids (which happen often), pictures of dead bodies routinely surface online and flood the web which leads to further mistrust between the Somali public and the Americans who claim “there here to help”.
This in itself is detrimental to prospects of strengthening US-Somali relations in the long run. The white house might be on good terms with the Junta in Mogadishu, however they remain reviled in the eyes of the vast majority of the population in Somalia for obvious reasons.
Somalia has historically suffered due to failed US foreign policy and the misery in Somalia caused by policy makers in Washington only intensified following the start of America’s war on terror.
Two decades later and the US still hasn’t learned from there past mistakes and as expected the Pentagon’s drone diplomacy continues to take Somalia on a downward spiral like never before and policy makers in Washington are simply to stupid to realize it.
Halgan Media Editorial Board.
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