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Somali Officials Contradict US Claim That No Civilians Killed During Raid

/ KCAL News

SOMALIA-US-UNREST
Relatives gather to look at the dead bodies of ten people including children after a raid on their farms in Bariire, some 50 km west of Mogadishu, on August 25, 2017. Somali officials said Friday they had killed eight jihadist fighters during an overnight operation, denying claims from local elders that they had shot civilians dead, two of them children. Somali community leaders accused the troops, accompanied by US military advisors, of having killed the nine civilians in the overnight operations. An initial government statement said its troops had come under fire from jihadists while on patrol, insisting that no civilians had been killed. A later statement acknowledged that there had been civilian casualties, in what the government seemed to suggest was a separate incident. They did not say who was responsible. / AFP PHOTO / Mohamed ABDIWAHAB (Photo credit should read MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/AFP/Getty Images)

 

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A U.S. military investigation of an August raid in Somalia is contradicting Somali officials' accusations that several civilians, including children, were killed.

The U.S.-supported raid by Somali forces on Aug. 25 in Bariire village caused an uproar, with bodies laid out in the capital, Mogadishu, for display. Somalia's army chief said civilians were killed.

The U.S. Africa Command statement says a "thorough assessment" of the raid by U.S. Special Operations Command Africa shows "the only casualties were those of armed enemy combatants."

There was no immediate response from Somali officials.

The Trump administration this year approved expanded military operations against the Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab.

A separate statement Wednesday by the U.S. Africa Command says there are currently more than 500 U.S. military personnel in the Horn of Africa nation.

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast rewritten or redistributed.)

First published on November 29, 2017 / 8:34 PM PST

© 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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