Somalia Requests Explanation for US Airstrike In Central Somalia

Somali government on Thursday demanded an explanation from the United States on an airstrike which it said had killed 22 people in the outskirt of Galkaayo town of Horn of African nation.

A statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting in Mogadishu, the ministers in the government said they condole with families of the soldiers and civilians killed in U.S. airstrike which hit a Somali army base.

The cabinet expressed concern over the airstrike which had been carried out without the knowledge of the Somali authorities.

The statement said it will appoint a ministerial committee to investigate the airstrike.

Galmudug regional government said there were no al-Shabaab militants in the area and that 22 members of the local security forces were killed.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Galkayo town which is located few killometres away from  where the strike took place, on Wednesday, angry at the U.S. action.

Irate residents chanted anti-U.S. slogans and burned American flags, calling on Galmudug regional state and the Somali federal government to respond to what they called “aggression”.

The protesters accused semi-autonomous Puntland State of giving false information to American Special Forces to kill the soldiers who were in their military base and not the militants who have been fighting to topple the Western-backed government.

The U.S. has carried out numerous airstrikes in Somalia targeting Al-Shabaab members, including a missile strike that killed the group’s former leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, in 2014.