Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Accuses U.S. Of Deliberately Killing Somali Civilians In Drone Strikes, Calls On Muslims To Support Jihad Against 'American Occupation' Of Somalia

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On September 23, 2023, Al-Kataib, an official media outlet of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen (Al-Shabab), released a statement by Al-Shabab's Office of Politics and Wilaayaat [Provinces], titled "American War Crimes against Women and Children in Somalia."[1] The two-page English-language statement accuses the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) of knowingly killing civilians, including children and women, in its drone strikes in Somalia, claiming that such actions only provoke Somali Muslims to wage jihad against the U.S. and calling on all Muslims to support the struggle to "liberate" Somalia from "American occupation."

"AFRICOM Deliberately Killed Entire Family As Part Of Systematic Campaign To Kill All Muslims Living Under Al-Shabab Rule, Such Actions Only Embolden Somalis To Wage Jihad Against U.S."

The statement alleges that at 9:20 A.M. on September 22, "American crusaders from AFRICOM" perpetrated a "massacre" by killing eight women and children from a single family in a drone strike on their mud hut on the outskirts of Buur Dhuxunle, in the Al-Shabab-controlled "Islamic Wilaayaah [province]" of Bakool. The statement lists the names of the alleged victims, all members of the Sheikh Ishaaq family: four children between the ages of three and seven, their mother and 70-year-old grandmother, and two other girls, aged four and 14.

According to Al-Shabab, AFRICOM's "deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians, particularly women and children," and its "repeated use of cluster munitions in residential areas" constitute war crimes. The Al-Qaeda affiliate claims that AFRICOM struck the house despite being aware that children were in it at the time, further noting that a family of six, among them five children, were killed in another drone strike earlier this month in Oodweyn, Galgadud region. According to the statement, these actions demonstrate "the American crusaders' intent to kill all Muslims, whether young and old, combatants or otherwise," due to their "deep-rooted hatred towards Islam and the Muslims."

The statement adds that despite "overwhelming evidence and independent reports" attesting to "war crimes" perpetrated in Somalia in recent years, "the crusaders continue to shamelessly lie about their atrocities in Somalia." Every time civilian casualties are reported, AFRICOM issues a "ready-made press release" denying the reports and promising to investigate, but, according to Al-Shabab, no such investigation has ever been carried out, and so "the crusaders continue raining down missiles upon the Muslim population of Somalia."

America's "massacre of Muslim families in Somalia" is not due to "faulty intelligence or military mishaps," claims Al-Shabab, but rather "a systematic campaign targeting all Muslims who choose to live under the administration of Islamic Shari'ah," as AFRICOM views all men, women, and children living in areas controlled by Al-Shabab as "legitimate military targets." Such "barbaric attacks," asserts the statement, "will not further U.S. military objectives in any way" but only "further embolden the Muslims of Somalia and encourage them to join the Jihad against the United States."

Call For Al-Shabab Governors To Help Victims Of U.S. Drone Strikes, Somali Leaders To Protest, Muslims Everywhere To Support Jihad To "Liberate" Somalia From "American Occupation"

In the name of Al-Shabab's Office of Politics and Wilaayaat, the statement extends condolences to the families of the victims, asking Allah to accept them as martyrs and calling on the governors of Al-Shabab provinces to "double their efforts" to provide the "necessary emergency and humanitarian services" to Muslims harmed by U.S. drone strikes.

It further urges Somali Muslims, particularly "academics, scholars, and tribal leaders," to condemn the "barbaric and indiscriminate U.S. aerial bombardment against their people," noting that silence is complicity. Asserting that "America's hegemonic foreign policy in Somalia" is "a war against Islam," Al-Shabab calls on all Muslims to "stand in solidarity with their Muslim brothers in the face of the aggressive American onslaught against Islam and unite in the liberation of Somalia from American occupation."

Al-Shabab has previously accused the U.S. of indiscriminately killing civilians with its drone strikes in Somalia, issuing several statements to that effect in the past two months.[2] In a recent speech, the group's spokesman, Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame aka Mahad Karate, condemned the alleged U.S. killing of civilians in Oodweyn and vowed vengeance.[3]

It should be noted that an AFRICOM spokeswoman acknowledged the killing of children in Oodweyn, but claimed the strike was perpetrated by Somali forces, whom U.S. troops were "advising and assisting" remotely, and that American forces medically evacuated two injured children.[4]