US & French air strikes raise human toll in Somalia
Abayomi Azikiwe
2011-11-25, Issue <
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/issue/559> 559
<
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/78161>
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/78161
human toll from yet another imperialist-sponsored war in Africa grows daily,
reports Abayomi Azikiwe. The Somali conflict is part of ongoing campaigns by
the Pentagon and NATO to secure large sections of Africa that have strategic
value to the US and Europe.
United States and French military involvement in Africa is taking a deadly
toll in Somalia. Despite Washington's denials, the people of this nation are
suffering under the impact of yet another imperialist-driven war.
Kenyan army units crossed over into southern Somalia in October in an
operation aimed at eliminating the bases of the Al-Shabaab Islamic
resistance movement, which controls large sections of this Horn of Africa
nation.
French military spokesperson Col. Thierry Burkhard confirmed recently that
Paris was flying equipment to reinforce the Kenyan soldiers. France in
recent months has been involved in overthrowing the government of Ivory
Coast, regime change in Libya and curbing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea off
West Africa.
The Somali conflict is part of ongoing campaigns by the Pentagon and NATO to
secure large sections of Africa that have strategic value to US and European
imperialism. The White House has justified its aggression by labelling
Al-Shabaab a 'terrorist organization' affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Two US
administrations have armed and financed the so-called African Union Mission
to Somalia (AMISOM), which has 9,000 troops in Mogadishu protecting a
Washington-backed regime.
US DRONES MASSACRE SOMALI CIVILIANS
Daily drone attacks in Somalia have reportedly resulted in hundreds of
civilian deaths in recent weeks. Press TV reported that 79 more people have
been killed in US assassination drone attacks in southern Somalia, bringing
the deaths to 146 over the past two days. The US military launched terror
drone attacks on Bilis Qooqaani town, which is located 278 miles southwest
of the Somali capital
Mogadishu on 11 November.
In addition, on the same day a French military helicopter crashed near the
southern port city of Kismayo, killing nine people. The military chopper
went down while providing cover for Kenyan military units attacking
Al-Shabaab bases in the vicinity.
These increased air strikes in Somalia are related to deployment of US
personnel and weapons in the Horn of Africa, North Africa and the Arabian
Peninsula. Drones are being launched in at least five other countries in
these regions.
The Washington Post reported on 27 October that the US has been secretly
flying Reaper drones from a remote civilian airport in southern Ethiopia,
spending millions of dollars to update an airfield in Arba Minch. The
Reapers began flying missions earlier this year over neighbouring Somalia.
The Pentagon has denied that the drones are armed, saying they are being
used only for surveillance, but the Post article adds that the pilotless
planes can be equipped with Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs.
Despite the massacres carried out by Washington in Somalia, the Al-Shabaab
fighters have continued to launch operations against the Kenyan military
forces. On 11 November, the Islamic resistance movement said it had killed
30 Kenyan troops and six military trucks in an ambush of a military convoy.
Israel is also getting into the war, and will be participating with Kenya in
intensified offensives inside neighboring Somalia. (Press TV, 11 November.)
This further militarisation of southern Somalia coincides with the spread of
cholera in the areas of Jilib Town and Hoomboy, where 81 people have died
from the waterborne disease. Somali physicians reported that within a
24-hour period starting 12 November, 670 children entered medical centres in
Mareerey northeast of Jilib.
These areas have been severely impacted by flooding as well. River waters
have rushed into districts near Jilib, destroying hundreds of homes. Doctors
report increased cases of malaria as well due to the Juba and Shabelle
rivers overflowing into many districts.
The AMISOM forces, composed of 9,000 troops from the US-backed regimes of
Uganda and Burundi,are working to prop up Somilia's Transitional Federal
Government and its military and police. On 12 November, a grenade hit
patrolling pro-TFG soldiers in Mogadishu, killing at least six.
Also in the northern Mogadishu district of Huriwa, Al-Shabaab was reported
to have killed 20 soldiers from TFG units in an exchange of mortar fire. In
other fighting in the Dayniile district at least 14 civilians died after the
shelling of a residential area from an unknown source.
The human toll from yet another imperialist-sponsored war in Africa grows
daily.
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Received on Fri Nov 25 2011 - 07:18:53 EST