‘Killed us twice’: Families of US drone victims seek reparations in Somalia

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Growing up successful a nomadic household successful cardinal Somalia’s Galgaduud region, Luul Dahir Mohamed, similar galore girls successful her Bedouin community, ne'er got the accidental to spell to school.

But arsenic she grew up, joined and had 2 children – Mohamed and Mariam – she dreamed of a amended beingness for them. After her matrimony ended, the young parent decided to relocate from her agrarian assemblage successful Bergan to the cardinal Somali metropolis of El Buur successful 2018, hoping the determination would assistance her supply for her children.

Reparations ‘not feasible’

The Africa Command (AFRICOM), which oversees US subject operations connected the continent, has carried retired much than 410 aerial raids successful Somalia since 2005, according to the deliberation vessel New America, which tracks specified attacks. According to AFRICOM’s ain data, the bid carried retired 37 strikes successful Somalia successful 2018, including the 1 that killed Luul and Mariam.

A time aft the April 1 strike, AFRICOM released a connection claiming it struck “five terrorists” and destroyed 1 conveyance successful the strike.

“No civilians were killed successful this airstrike,” said the statement.

The US subject says its aerial raids people equipped groups, including al-Shabab, successful Somalia. However, locals and rights groups often study civilian deaths.

Twelve months aft the attack, pursuing unit from rights groups, AFRICOM conducted an interior reappraisal and admitted that a “mother and child” had been killed successful an onslaught adjacent El Buur.

This marked the first-ever US admittance of civilian casualties from their decades-long aerial run successful Somalia. The study did not sanction Luul and Mariam.

This month, ineligible rights organisation Humanus, which represents civilian victims of attacks similar these, received a missive from AFRICOM, seen exclusively by Al Jazeera, confirming that Luul and her girl were killed successful a US attack.

AFRICOM is “committed to learning from the circumstances astir these tragic deaths”, the missive read, but said making a “condolence payment” to Luul’s relatives, including her young son, present 13, is “not feasible”.

Victims’ families and rights groups accidental it is not enough.

Search for answers

“AFRICOM has ne'er reached retired to america directly,” Abubakar told Al Jazeera, saying helium tried to interaction them for answers connected 2 abstracted occasions – archetypal done the “contact us” conception connected their website to scope nationalist relations, and aboriginal by utilising the command’s civilian harm reporting portal.

“I adjacent near them my interaction details,” helium said, but helium ne'er received a response.

A twelvemonth aft AFRICOM’s interior reappraisal and its admittance astir civilian deaths, the bid created a civilian casualty reporting signifier connected its website wherever radical could stock accusation connected those killed oregon injured by US aerial raids.

From a distance, the inaugural seems bully for filing complaints, but the determination has travel nether crisp disapproval by researchers for respective reasons, including being successful English, a connection not acquainted to astir Somalis, and being intolerable for civilians successful al-Shabab-controlled areas, wherever astir aerial raids happen, to entree arsenic the equipped radical puts prohibitions connected internet, mobile information and smartphone use.

“The existent civilian ailment strategy is profoundly inadequate for the context,” Eva Buzo, the enforcement manager of Humanus, told Al Jazeera.

“It is simply a strategy that has repeatedly failed victims. In our clients’ cases, they exhausted each disposable channel, including an online portal that is utterly inappropriate for a colonisation with precocious levels of illiteracy and a deficiency of net access.”

Abukar Arman, a Somali expert and writer who has written extensively connected US drone attacks and the alleged “war connected terror” successful Somalia, believes AFRICOM’s civilian reporting portal has much to bash with optics than accountability.

“Look astatine the connection [English] the civilian harm reporting portal is in, and you tin conscionable ideate the hurdles and workout successful futility that galore Somalis spell done erstwhile attempting to study oregon kick astir their loved ones who mightiness person been harmed successful US drone strikes,” helium said.

Still, for Abubakar, trying to usage the online portal was worthy the effort, contempt his intermediate English connection skills, arsenic helium was hopeless for answers astir the deaths of his sister and niece.

But it was to nary avail. He says his messages were ignored.

In an email sent to Al Jazeera, AFRICOM said “those affected had representatives prosecute connected their behalf”, and the bid determined that “it would beryllium much due to pass done those representatives” alternatively of with idiosyncratic queries.

However, Abubakar told Al Jazeera that AFRICOM’s claims were not true, arsenic erstwhile helium reached retired to them successful 2019 and utilized the civilian harm reporting portal successful 2020, “there was nary 1 representing our household with AFRICOM”.

Humanus took up lone Luul’s family’s lawsuit successful 2023, helium said, which Buzo besides confirmed.

There had been “persistent and yet futile attempts by the victims’ families to question a effect from the US military”, Buzo said astir Luul’s case, arsenic good arsenic different household her organisation is representing, the Kusows.

“In some cases … they exhausted each disposable transmission … Until Humanus provided ineligible support, these efforts were met with silence.”

‘She would shriek astir each night’

The Kusow household has lived for generations successful the Jubba Valley of confederate Somalia.

On the nighttime of February 2, 2020, portion preparing dinner, the family’s location successful Jilib was struck by a rocket from a US drone. AFRICOM successful a press release initially claimed the aerial raid “killed 1 terrorist”, adding that the “removal of adjacent 1 violent makes the portion and the US safer”.

However, AFRICOM’s ain interior reappraisal and probe recovered that that peculiar onslaught killed 1 civilian and injured 3 others, according to different missive sent to Humanus successful September, and seen by Al Jazeera, successful which they named the victims.

“Bombing radical portion they’re having dinner, lone to accidental they killed terrorists contempt having the capabilities to find who the targets really are beforehand, shows their implicit disregard for the lives of my family,” Mohamed Osman Abdi, a comparative of the Kusow family, told Al Jazeera.

The onslaught injured Mohamed’s mother-in-law, 74-year-old Khadija Mohamed Gedow. After the strike, she initially struggled to locomotion owed to her injuries. Her wellness has deteriorated further, and she is present incapable to locomotion astatine each and has go unsighted successful her close eye.

Mohamed’s 3 young nieces were besides casualties of the attack.

Fatumo Kusow Omar, 14, suffered superior injuries to her enarthrosis and inactive struggles to prime up things 5 years later, Mohamed said. “But the archetypal 2 years were the worst, due to the fact that she was battling trauma,” helium added. “She had difficulties sleeping astatine nighttime and would person flashbacks of the large detonation [from the missile] and the dust, debris and occurrence that engulfed their home.”

Fatumo is yet to afloat recover, helium says, but feels it is his different niece, Adey Kusow Omar, who was 9 astatine the time, who has suffered worse. “She would shriek astir each night; I tried to enactment her to slumber due to the fact that she feared different detonation … I knew she was traumatised, but determination was thing I could bash for her.”

A 3rd niece, Nuro Kusow Omar, 17, was the astir tragic unfortunate that day; she was killed successful the attack. At her burial the pursuing morning, successful accordance with Islamic traditions, some relatives and assemblage members were terrified due to the fact that drones were spotted hovering implicit the town, including implicit her ceremonial procession, causing fears that different US aerial raid was imminent.

“We didn’t cognize if they’d beryllium bombed again and whether we’d suffer much household members,” Mohamed said. “It was similar reliving the nightmare, but this time, we were much scared, not knowing who could dice next.”

Lives mislaid ‘worth nothing’ to the US

Humanus has been advocating for some the Kusow household and Luul’s relatives since 2023, trying to assistance them get answers arsenic good arsenic accountability from AFRICOM.

Buzo told Al Jazeera it took involution by the Humanus ineligible squad conscionable for the cases to beryllium noticed by AFRICOM, lone for them to beryllium refused immoderate further action.

“This deficiency of a functional, accessible way to redress is not conscionable a procedural flaw; it compounds the suffering of victims by silencing their attempts to question justice,” she said.

When it comes to the prospects for immoderate signifier of reparations oregon fiscal compensation for the victims and their families, AFRICOM stated successful the letters to Humanus that nether “current Department of Defense guidelines and policies, US Africa Command determined it is not feasible to marque a condolence outgo successful this matter”.

When asked for further clarification, successful an email effect sent to Al Jazeera, AFRICOM said it carried retired an appraisal bearing successful caput the “mission objectives, taste norms, section economical realities; the feasibility, safety, security, and logistics of making the outgo itself” and made their determination based connected the hazard that funds meant for surviving household members could beryllium “subject to confiscation, extortion, oregon unofficial taxation by violent oregon hostile insurgent groups”.

In a statement published connected Tuesday, Humanus said, “AFRICOM’s perfunctory acknowledgment and bare condolences are not conscionable underwhelming, they are a profound injustice. Our clients person already navigated a agelong and arduous process exhausting each disposable channel, lone to beryllium met with a strategy designed to look the different way.”

It added: “Reparations are not conscionable astir money; they are a ceremonial designation of the harm and a vital, last measurement toward a afloat halt for survivors. When this important constituent is absent, the alleged ‘accountability process’ reveals itself arsenic small much than an elaborate workout successful futility.”

Mohamed and Abubakar accidental AFRICOM’s reasoning for not paying compensation is “painful” and “more injustice” astatine the hands of those who killed their loved ones.

“It’s a inexpensive excuse. They killed and maimed these radical [the Kusow family]. Using fears of the wealth being extorted oregon confiscated is different mode of saying the lives [lost] are worthy thing to america [the US],” Mohamed said.

“It’s achy and shows however hopeless they are to escaped themselves of immoderate accountability.”

Abubakar besides slammed AFRICOM’s explanation. “It shows they wholly are unwilling to wage and volition spell to utmost lengths to debar compensation for what they did to my sister and niece,” helium said.

“Every year, the US gives [millions] of dollars [in aid] to Somalia successful antithetic sectors, and determination is ne'er immoderate fearfulness of the wealth being stolen oregon being exploited by equipped groups, but erstwhile it comes to america [our family], they accidental things similar this.”

Additionally, successful the letters seen by Al Jazeera, AFRICOM said it is incapable to conscionable the surviving household members owed to the “security concern successful Somalia” and “threats to US personnel”.

“Such a assertion is illogical. AFRICOM and the US successful wide person radical [personnel] already stationed successful Mogadishu,” the Kusows’ relative, Mohamed, told Al Jazeera. “If they wanted, they could easy conscionable with my family, but it’s wide that they are avoiding to spell earlier the families they wounded to debar further scrutiny.”

On September 3 – the time AFRICOM wrote the letters to Humanus – General Dagvin Anderson, the precocious appointed commandant for AFRICOM, arrived successful Mogadishu and met enactment from the Somali authorities and planetary coalition, including US officials. The AFRICOM commandant would aboriginal springiness an interrogation to the Somali-run television.

“If helium [the AFRICOM commander] tin beryllium down successful beforehand of cameras, past helium and different [US] unit tin beryllium down with our family, alternatively of slaughtering them similar animals and looking the different way,” Mohamed added.

Culture of ‘impunity’

Over the years, rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, person raised concerns astir AFRICOM’s deficiency of transparency and openness erstwhile dealing with household members of drone onslaught victims, arsenic good arsenic successful investigating cases and providing compensation.

Analysts who spoke to Al Jazeera accidental the refusal by AFRICOM to wage compensation is portion of a civilization of impunity that has persisted with US drone operations successful Somalia for astir 2 decades.

“When US authorities are unwilling to bash the close happening [compensate financially] with surviving household members, it shows not lone their implicit disregard but however adjacent AFRICOM themselves cognize they’re immune from accountability – nary substance however galore civilians that proceed to suffer their lives astatine the hands of US drones,” said Arman.

AFRICOM’s refusal to supply compensation “is profoundly disappointing” to Buzo and her squad astatine Humanus. “It reinforces the cognition that seeking justness done authoritative subject channels is an incredibly hard and often unrewarding process for victims,” she said.

During President Donald Trump’s archetypal word successful office, the US carried retired much than 200 aerial raids successful Somalia, surpassing each his predecessors combined, according to the United Kingdom-based watchdog, Airwars. This year, the US has carried retired 80 aerial raids successful Somalia, according to New America, surpassing each strikes conducted during erstwhile President Joe Biden’s clip successful office.

Abubakar and Mohamed told Al Jazeera they consciousness they are being forced to relive the nightmare of the attacks that killed their relatives due to the fact that of the continued “disregard” of the US successful the handling of their cases.

Mohamed believes AFRICOM does not attraction whether their aerial raids deed al-Shabab oregon civilians who are thing much than “collateral damage” to them, portion Abubakar says the deficiency of interest from the US “will ne'er bring america closure” aft the sidesplitting of Luul and Mariam.

“The mode successful which they treated our household shows the satellite that the American authorities is not genuine astir upholding planetary instrumentality and quality rights,” Abubakar said. “It’s similar they killed america twice.”

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