award-winning journalist and writer | @code4africa investigative fellow | book tk | amanda.sperber@gmail.com
Jul 22, 2021 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
The U.S. military openly admitted to killing their civilian relatives but the self proclaimed most "moral" fighting force on earth won't return their emails or issue reparations. In #Somalia I spoke to families in a liminal funhouse for @VICEWorldNews: vice.com/en/article/m7e…
According to international human rights law the U.S. has to pay reparations when it carries out unlawful killings outside the laws of war. But in the admissions made, the U.S. has not acknowledged unlawful killings in Somalia.
Dec 6, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I cover US airstrikes on the ground from Somalia, and wrote a number of investigations on the topic. The implications that this potential withdrawal has given the fragile situation in the country is significant and about more than airstrikes or counter-terrorism.
Comments that the airstrikes will continue and/or the generally vague statements about the boost this could give to al Shabaab seems to be the mainstream US focus and are practically besides if you want to talk about how this will impact people on the ground.
Dec 5, 2020 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
"The #US change in #Somalia has nothing to do with Somalia and has to do with US politics" - a source
There's also legitimate concern that the #FGS will try to deploy #Danab around #Mogadishu to suppress any uprising at the end of the Presidential election. #Danab was formed to be a crack force against al Shabaab, not to suppress a democratic process.
Dec 5, 2020 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
My understanding, as someone who has covered #Somalia from the ground since early 2017, is that this abrupt shift could have extremely negative reverberations on the people the US troops were previously meant to support.
There is no opinion here on the impact the US presence has had thus far in #Somalia, it is to say that, it is my understanding that, abrupt movements such as the quick withdrawal of troops, would not be beneficial to any stated local or international aims.
nytimes.com/2020/09/15/us/…
The article notes that Kenyan authorities have to assent before a strike. Strikes in #Somalia are also carried out "in partnership" with the government, but issues include politicized intelligence and power imbalances.
Dec 16, 2019 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
The US military says it has conducted at least 148 strikes in Somalia in the past three years, killing at least 900 - 1000 people. It alleges all but two were militant fighters associated with al Shabaab.
What I wanted to know was, even if that's the case (and my reporting along with @amnesty's have found that it is not) how are the strikes impacting civilians?
Sep 4, 2019 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
The US military confirmed to me it was on an operation in the village of Shanta Baraako the night two civilians, including one mother died. Madina Hospital verified the death certificate. inthesetimes.com/features/us-mi…
I don't think I have ever seen a man break down until I overly bluntly started questioning Hassan about his sister's death during the US "advise and assist" raid his home. His face fell. He collapsed into sobs. His sister.
Feb 8, 2019 • 30 tweets • 8 min read
Yesterday General Waldhauser said US #airstrikes won't stop al Shabab in #Somalia. I spent five weeks on the ground investigating the impact of the strikes. Here's what I found: thenation.com/article/somali…
Halimo Mohamed Abdi said the blast broke both her hips, left shrapnel embedded in her thigh, and caused terrible burns that cost her both breasts.Before she lost consciousness, she told me, she saw three boys—9, 10, and 16—die in the explosion about 30 miles outside #Mogadishu.
