‘Misdirected’ US airstrike kills twenty-two Somali troops
Written by Morenike Adebayo on September 29, 2016
US forces have been accused of killing twenty-two Somali troops in what is said to be a misdirected airstrike in the country’s northern regions. On Wednesday, Galmudug states’ Security Minister Osman Issa announced that his soldiers were killed in the airstrike, adding that the attack was launched on a request of from the rival neighboring region of Puntland on the pretext that the targets were al-Shabab militants.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis claims that US forces had engaged in a “self-defense airstrike” after Somali troops were attacked by militants during operations to halt a bomb manufacturing network. He added that nine al-Shabaab militants were killed in the attack. Al-Shabaab has however denied the casualties on its side, saying that it had no members in the region at the time of the attack.
