Name: Somali civilians caught in the crossfire of US strikes against radical groups | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-03-14T16:55:16.000Z
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A new constitution has been signed into law in Somalia, paving the way for lawmakers to be directly elected by the public.

Direct voting used to happen in Somalia until dictator Siad Baris military regime seized power in 1969 and ruled for three decades now.

Since 2000, a clan based system has been used with elders choosing MPs who then elect the president.

Earlier this month, Parliament approved their constitutional changes.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohammed says the move is a step toward a more functional system of government.

But there are doubts Somalia is ready to hold a nationwide vote.

Lawmakers have also pushed planned elections back by up to a year.

Some Somalis did vote in local elections late last year, but

the country still has no agreed national election election framework and is deeply fractured along state lines.

Regional leaders, including those in Puntland and Jubaland, are boycotting the federal government's plans to centralize power.

Somaliland broke away in 1991 but has only been recognized by Israel.

The country still faces a major insurgent threat from Al Shabaab militants which control large areas around the capital Mogadishu, despite being pushed back by US Strikes in an African Union offensive.

Now those US Attacks have reintensified under President Trump, just as they did during his first term.

Here are all the sites targeted by the US in their operations against Al Shabaab.

The strikes have killed not only fighters but also hit thousands of civilians.

DW spoke to a family from Jamame, which has been impacted by the airstrikes.

Journalist Mohamed Gababe met Somalis who say they suffered US strikes and worked with DW's East Africa correspondent Selah Onyeko to bring you their story.

His mother, Mariane Gouled, says he was injured by an airstrike four months ago.

When I first brought him here to Mogadishu, he was badly wounded and bleeding.

he still has shrapnel in his body and he needs the shrapnel removed.

Guled and her children are 400km away from home.

In November 2025, her hometown, Jamaame, was hit by the airstrike.

It lies in an area controlled by the extremist group Al Shabaab in the south of Somalia.

The timing of the attack concurs with an airstrike claimed by US Africa Command together with the federal government.

Gulede says she had heard the drones overhead when the airstrikes happened.

I was preparing breakfast for my children who had returned from Koran school.

That's when the first airstrike happened outside our home.

I ran after them and a second airstrike hit.

Three of my children were wounded, two boys and a girl.

Her oldest son and daughter were treated locally.

But an operation to remove the shrapnel lodged in Abdelkadeer's body would cost up to $1,000, a price she can't afford.

The efforts to fight the extremist groups in Somalia have been going on for years.

But the return of the Trump administration has spelled a major spike in the number of airstrikes.

In 2025, the US conducted 124 airstrikes in collaboration with either state or local governments.

Somalia's state Minister for Defense praised the U.S. support.

The most important thing is that air support that was given to us achieved its desired effect.

For example, in Sako, it took out the biggest bomb factory in the region.

This is a milestone for us and we thank the US Government.

The US Africa Command generally publishes quarterly reports on civilian harm, but

it hasn't updated its report since June last year.

And while the authorities claim that their targeting is precise, some cases seem unclear.

In September last year, Omar Abdullah Abdi was killed by a US Drone strike in the semi autonomous state of Puntland.

S Africa Command claimed they had targeted an arms dealer.

Abdi's family, however, say he was a tribal elder who had been fighting against and not for Al Shabaab and ISIS in the region.

a police report says that he was involved in peace building efforts and had no criminal record.

The local Puntland army, an ally of the US confirmed this.

His clan suffered the most casualties in the war against Al Shabaab and isis, both past and present.

If he were a criminal, he could have been arrested or if we had been made aware, we could have detained and arrested him.

A Puntland based human rights group has called on the US for more transparency, also to build more local trust for the fight against the insurgents.

They've built a memorial at the site of the strike.

All they said was that they had killed him, but

they did not give us enough information and we are demanding that they tell us the full details of why they killed a respected and a revered leader.

While Abdi's family continue to search for answers, Gouled simply wants the treatment her son needs.

She'll hold onto that hope for as long as she can.

For more on this, I spoke to Elias Adam, a lawyer with a coalition of human rights defenders.

He starts by assessing the current human rights landscape in Somalia.

Somalia is a country that's now recovering from a long period of armed conflict and civil war and also fight with terrorists and also loose clan militias that are also targeting civilians.

The human rights record, the human rights violation in Somalia are now unprecedented.

The number of cases that are abroading human rights defenders in Somalia, like the coalition of Somali human rights defenders now being their lines of contact are being now made busy by victims reporting violations of airstrikes, drone strikes also targeted extrajudicial and semi killings by state and non state actors.

The state has established a national human rights commission which also has been selected in a style of intransparency.

Transparency issue has been reported also because the also establishment of such commission should respect the Paris principles.

You're right about a transparency issue there because it's difficult to even ascertain the kind of damage that being done.

You know, again, talking about the strikes that are hitting or seemingly targeting civilians, families of course are reporting the harm.

But official statements from the government deny any civilian casualties.

How are these conflicting narratives impacting, you know, public trust in both Somali authorities and international partners like the U.S.

basically, the international stakeholders in the fight against terrorism in Somalia need basically to build public trust in their fight against terrorism in Somalia because people casualties of civilians are skyrocketing.

People start to lose trust in the fight against terrorism in Somalia.

Of course, Al Shab is a very dangerous group that also people may fear for their control or taking control more territories in Somalia.

But also civilian casualties cannot be overlooked and also need to be addressed immediately.

There are cases where the US has already compensated and has admitted to have been behind.

But also, let's not be fooled by only there is not only in Somalia.

There is not only one actor in the drone and airstrikes.

There is also the state also has some drones and they are also conducting their own also.

But anything that comes beyond their capacity, they request their US ally to intervene.

It seems like quite a complicated situation on the ground with so many actors involved.

But for the families who believe their loved ones were wrongly targeted, how can they seek accountability?

Those families can seek accountability through coming out and speaking loudly about their cases and also abroading rights activities.

And also those could connect them to the international Also organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and also advocates for Human Rights International and other also advocates for Victims International also that has successfully worked on many cases that has resulted in compensation.

I mean, look, we all know what's currently going on in Somalia.

You know, the country is basically navigating constitutional disputes, federal state tensions and social fragility.

How can or should the country navigate through all of this Somalia to navigate through this complicated terrain of security and also human rights, where security and human rights are interconnected and civilian lives are at stake?

I think there needs to be a very smart political leadership in the country.

I think the current leadership has failed in addressing many issues, including the political crisis in the country.

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Somali civilians caught in the crossfire of US strikes against radical groups | DW News

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