US diplomat says Al-Shabaab spreading falsehoods on ‘civilian deaths’ in airstrikes

GOOBJOOG NEWS | MOGADISHU: The US embassy in Mogadishu has dismissed claims by Al-Shabaab that a US airstrike killed civilians in central Somalia noting that the militant group is spreading propaganda to advance its agenda.

US embassy chargé d’affaires Shane Dixon said the allegations were false and that the US did not carry out a strike affirming a similar position by the US military in previous interviews.

“I want to emphasise the most recent incident where Al-Shabab put out this message that we had killed five civilians is completely false. It just wasn’t true,” Dixon said, adding, “There was no airstrike that killed those civilians.”

Al-Shabaab claimed on September 9 that ‘several’ civilians were killed in a U.S. strike in El-Lahelay village in Galgadud region. But military sources quoted by the US-based Associated Press denied conducting the strike noting US forces did not conduct the strike and neither were they near the scene but later evacuated the casualties at the request of the Somali government.

Dixon further noted that Al-Shabaab is hiding ‘behind the mask’ of civilian casualties while being involved in mass killings in restaurants and markets among other places.

He added that the US forces are under strict guidelines when it comes to airstrikes. “When we do a strike, the rules and regulations are so strict t that if there is any chance there are civilians nearby, we won’t do the strike.”

The US diplomat further noted that airstrikes by AFRICOM are at the request of the Somali National Army.