MILITARY/SOMALIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Ten civilians, including three children, were killed in a raid by foreign and Somali forces on a farm in southern Somalia, a deputy governor said Friday [8-25-17]. The United States military confirmed that it had supported a counterterrorism operation in the area, and said it would look into the allegations.
The deaths raise questions about growing American military involvement in Somalia after President Trump approved expanded operations, often in support of Somali forces, against the Shabab, an extremist group linked to Al Qaeda.
The farmers were killed ‘one by one’ after soldiers stormed into the village, Barire, early Friday, the deputy governor of the Lower Shabelle region, Ali Nur Mohamed, told reporters in the capital, Mogadishu.
Somalia’s Information Ministry at first said that the raid had killed eight Shabab fighters and that the extremists had begun shooting at Somali forces, adding that ‘no civilians were harmed or killed.’ A corrected statement said that ‘it appears that there were different security operations’ in the area.
Three children ages 8 to 10 and a woman were among the dead, the deputy governor said. Their bodies were laid out in a grassy courtyard, wrapped in blankets. Bodies of civilians, especially those killed in misdirected attacks, are often taken from remote areas to Mogadishu to draw media attention.”
-The Associated Press, “Children Are Among the Dead After a U.S.-Backed Raid in Somalia,” The New York Times online, Aug. 25, 2017