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3 Mar, 5 tweets, 3 min read
As our annual report shows, 2020 was on its way to become the year of most intense US bombing in Somalia - 54 actions were declared by AFRICOM, only seven less than in 2019 airwars.org/wp-content/upl… Image
Civilian harm, however, decreased significantly compared to the previous year with 20 to 28 non-combatants alleged killed - the previous year’s tally was 41 to 64 Image
Somali and US forces gained considerable ground in their campaign, taking back key cities such as Janaale. However, large parts of southern Somalia. ISIS on the other hand only controls a small pocket of Puntland garoweonline.com/en/news/somali…
In a major transparency development in 2020, AFRICOM began publishing quarterly civilian harm assessments for the conflicts it engages in. It acknowledged having killed one civilian and injured five in two incidents in February 2020 airwars.org/civilian-casua… Image
In one of the last decisions of the Trump administration, hundreds of US troops were withdrawn from Somalia. During his presidency, 276 US actions were conducted in the East African country - more than during the two previous Presidents combined Image

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More from @airwars

Airwars Profile picture
4 Mar
2020 was a busy year for Airwars EU Advocacy. In the Netherlands we began a so-called Roadmap Process with the Dutch MoD, engaged with Belgium and spoke with Dutch, French & German MPs on the reverberating effects of explosive weapons in populated areas. airwars.org/news-and-inves…
In the Netherlands, Airwars followed the Hawija airstrike accountability process & reviewed declassified information released by MoD that a Dutch official was aware that the expected damage from the strike could be greater than Collateral Damage Estimate.
airwars.org/news-and-inves…
Airwars with NGOs, academics & Dutch Defensie drafted a Roadmap through which Defensie might review and improve transparency & accountability on civilian harm. The starting session took place in November and will be followed by four practical sessions.
airwars.org/wp-content/upl…
Read 6 tweets
Airwars Profile picture
4 Mar
2020 saw a steep decline in declared US actions in Yemen - with a total of 18 alleged US actions and none officially declared - the lowest levels of US activity in Yemen since 2011. Among these 18 claimed US actions, two involved reports of civilian harm.
airwars.org/news-and-inves…
We outline a clear shift towards more covert & clandestine operations in the country in the later years of the Trump administration. This followed a trend that had begun in June 2019 - the last time CENTCOM had publicly declared a strike in Yemen, despite 32 strike allegations.
January saw the most US activity in Yemen during 2020, with 6 strike allegations taking place including the killing of AQAP leader Qassim al-Rimi, which was confirmed by a White House statement.
nytimes.com/2020/02/06/wor…
Read 5 tweets
Airwars Profile picture
4 Mar
The Biden administration has made it harder for the US military and CIA to conduct drone strikes and other lethal actions away from war zones - while it conducts a review into Trump-era policies, including civilian protections. nytimes.com/2021/03/03/us/…
The piece, by @charlie_savage & @EricSchmittNYT, adds more detail to @attackerman's own recent report on the review by Biden's national security team. In particular, the Times says it will examine 'how to minimize the risk of civilian casualties.' thedailybeast.com/biden-starts-c…
Less clear is if the Biden review will look at whether the CIA should continue to conduct drone strikes. Civilian harm from US actions remains a significant concern in Somalia and Yemen- and the secrecy which comes with CIA strikes is corrosive to public accountability and trust.
Read 4 tweets
Airwars Profile picture
3 Mar
Although civilian harm from foreign belligerents in Iraq was low in 2020, Iraq found itself caught up in rising tensions between Iran and the United States, reaching boiling point following the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
airwars.org/news-and-inves…
In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, Iran fired ballistic missiles that reportedly caused traumatic brain injuries for up to 100 American troops at Al Asad base outside Baghdad. Aftermath of the US drone s...
Rogue militia attacks on US targets occurred throughout 2020, with the US embassy in Baghdad in particular being heavily targeted. Following the rocket attack on Camp Taji on March 13th, the US launched airstrikes on Karbala International Airport, killing civilian Karrar Sabbar. Image
Read 5 tweets
Airwars Profile picture
3 Mar
Thread: 2020 was a big year for geolocation at Airwars. We upgraded our Turkish & Somali strikes database, released a wealth of locations relating to US strikes in Yemen under Trump; and mapped more than 5,000 air/ artillery strikes in Libya since 2012. airwars.org/news-and-inves…
Yemen; Airwars geolocated and visualised 230 individual strikes and alleged civilian harm events. Employing an all-source approach to our work, we sought to reorient public research towards affected civilians on the ground. thx @sinanatra & Riley Mellen. airwars.org/conflict/us-fo…
US; 'The Credibles' was the culmination of more than three years of extensive engagement with US military, whereby Airwars secured the close coordinates of 340 publicly confirmed civilian harm events, which between them conceded more than 1,400 deaths. airwars.org/conflict-data/…
Read 4 tweets
Airwars Profile picture
3 Mar
Thread:
Does the US military have a problem with forgetting the civilian harm it causes? 
1/8 Image
In the first days of Donald Trump’s presidency, he approved a raid in a Yemeni village in Yakla.

It was supposed to target a senior leader in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

It went disastrously wrong
2/8
Cover was quickly blown. A fierce firefight broke out. US forces allegedly fired indiscriminately and called in air cover. Many civilians, including nine children, died

Yemeni lawyer @bonyanj said the raid "was one of the worst cases we have seen"
3/8
 thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-0…
Read 8 tweets

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