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They had conscionable settled down for meal erstwhile nan sound came. Some paused successful nan eating of their slow-cooked beans – cambuulo – spooked by nan haunting high-pitched hum. Others pressed their faces against windows, scanning skywards. Farmers successful adjacent maize fields watched nan objects circling supra Jamaame, a municipality successful confederate Somalia.
Shortly aft 9am connected 15 November 2025, Jamaame shuddered from a bid of explosions.
The location of Abdullahi Mohamed Abo Sheikh Ali, who was retired tending his fields that day, was among those obliterated. His grandfather Mohamed raced towards nan rubble.
“Clothes and books were scattered connected nan ground, but I couldn’t attraction connected them. I was successful shock, opinionated earlier nan bodies of my grandchildren. They were ripped to pieces.”
Images were published by Shahada news agency, affiliated pinch al-Shabaab, but person been examined for authenticity and do not show signs of integer alteration. Photograph: Shahada agency news
Scrabbling among nan debris, Mohamed recovered nan assemblage of Safiyo Hassan Abukar, his daughter-in-law. She had been heavy pregnant.
Beside her were nan remains of Abdifatah, her eldest child. It was small astonishment nan 10-year-old was recovered truthful adjacent to his mother.
“Abdifatah ne'er near her side, ever helping pinch chores. When he was around, she needed nary 1 else,” says Mohamed.
Seven-year-old Abdinasir, laic dormant nearby. Abdinasir had doted connected his grandfather. “He ever asked maine to believe truthful he could memorise nan Qur’an. Sometimes I called him my ‘prayer seeker’ and he would smile.”
The bodies of 2 much brothers – Hussein, six and Abdurahman, 4 – were among nan debris.
The family were killed during a US airstrike successful Somalia. According to a Guardian investigation, astatine slightest 12 civilians, including 8 children, died during nan attack.
It is nan deadliest US cognition for civilians successful Somalia during either Trump administration. The US had not killed truthful galore guiltless group successful a azygous incident successful nan eastbound African state for 18 years. The erstwhile highest confirmed toll was nan bloody, botched US subject cognition successful nan capital, Mogadishu, that became known arsenic nan 1993 Black Hawk Down incident.
Despite nan scale, nary investigation appears to person been launched into nan onslaught connected Jamaame six months ago. No 1 has been held accountable for nan deaths – nan US refused to admit that a azygous civilian died successful nan municipality that day.
Using photographs, video footage, and X-rays of children’s shrapnel injuries, alongside witnesser testimony, nan Guardian has pieced together nan first elaborate relationship of themassacre.
The killings raise questions not only astir US intelligence, but Washington’s intensifying run successful nan Horn of Africa. Hundreds of strikes person been carried out by nan Trump management successful a legally ambiguous, concealed warfare pinch nary evident accountability for civilian deaths.
Who signed disconnected nan onslaught connected a densely populated family neighbourhood? Why and who, if anyone, was nan intended target? Testimony indicates that it is highly probable nan US drone teams knew children were successful nan vicinity.
More broadly, Jamaame invites scrutiny complete really nan US subject values nan lives of mean Somalis. The commander-in-chief of nan US equipped forces – Donald Trump – has many times attacked Somalis, labelling them “stupid”, “low IQ” and their state arsenic “disgusting”.
Did statesmanlike disdain connote to elder officials they could get distant pinch sidesplitting civilians?
The US drones moved closer. A short while earlier, they had astir apt taken disconnected from Camp Simba, a subject guidelines farther southbound connected nan Kenyan coast. From nan drones’ lofty vantage point, Somalia would person looked stunning: immense unspoilt soil beaches framed by achromatic surf. Five miles (8km) inland, perched connected a curve of nan Jubba River, is Jamaame.
Full-motion video, aliases FMV, arsenic unrecorded feeds from drones are called, relayed life wrong Jamaame to a squad of pilots and analysts successful bonzer detail. “You tin publication licence plates,” says Brett Velicovich, a erstwhile US service typical operations intelligence analyst.
In Jamaame, group saw nan craft above. Although nan US would not remark connected nan weaponry utilized successful nan attack, they were astir apt MQ-9 Reaper “hunter killer” drones equipped pinch Hellfire missiles.
In nan Burburka neighbourhood, Marian Haji Abdi Guled remembers nan doorway of her location swinging unfastened to uncover her 3 grinning children, returning from Qur’an school.
But Guled felt uneasy, spooked by nan “very loud” sound overhead. Her location shuddered, and nan children ran extracurricular to spot what had happened.
Suddenly, different rocket screamed down from nan entity and Guled besides ran outside. “All my children were lying connected nan crushed covered successful blood. When I tried to thin to them, shells began falling everywhere. Every guidance you turned, location were shells and missiles raining everywhere.”
Nearby, Maryan Nur Buruji’s pregnant stepdaughter had fled to return shelter astatine nan Qur’an school, her two-year-old tied to her back.
About 9.30am, witnesses described 2 missiles striking nan school. Buruji’s stepdaughter was killed. The toddler, still clinging to her dormant mother, someway survived.
Amid nan pandemonium, Mohamed Hassan Abdulle ran to a friend’s location to get a motorcycle to ferry his family from danger.
“He told maine he’s going to thief his family fly first and past travel backmost for my family,” says a neighbour.
But Abdulle was excessively late. His location was already flattened. Under nan remains was nan bodies of his 26-year-old wife, Farhiyo Hassan Nuur, and daughter, Layla Mohamed Hassan. Layla was 10 months old.
He stood beside his destroyed home, nan full neighbourhood ablaze. “I couldn’t moreover find anyone to thief transportation nan bodies of my woman and daughter,” he says.
Outside Jamaame, Gedow Ibrahim had been tending his sesame crops erstwhile he received a panicked telephone from his wife, Nuurto Hussein Abukar, 30.
“There was a batch of fearfulness successful municipality because drones were hovering above. I told her to stay indoors.”
At astir 10am he received different call, this clip from a neighbour, urging him to return location immediately. His location had been destroyed.
In its wreckage his daughters, Maryan, nine, and Farhiyo, seven, were dead.
“I saw nan lifeless bodies of my children. One of them had their near limb torn off. The different 1 had shrapnel successful their back, which came retired of their chest.” His girl Amin, eight, was peppered pinch shrapnel: metallic shards speared her shoulder, thigh, hips and calf.
Also summoned location from his crops was Abdullahi Mohamed Abo Sheikh Ali, husbandman and grandson of Mohamed. He, excessively would beryllium confronted pinch a segment of unspeakable devastation and observe his family had been wiped out.
Abdullahi, incapable to process his woman and 4 children’s deaths, went into contiguous shock. “He’s ne'er been nan same,” says Mohamed.
Others were besides dead, including a revered imam.
Although nan precise chronology of nan strikes is difficult to verify, witnesses counted astatine slightest 15 explosions. Mohamed says astatine slightest 18 homes were destroyed. The schoolhouse was reduced to a shell. Guled counted 9 strikes successful nan Burburka neighbourhood alone.
Abdullahi, struggling to comprehend his loss, finds clarity erstwhile it comes to naming nan culprit. “The Americans bombed us,” he says. “Children, women and elders were bombed. They spared nothing.”
When Trump began his 2nd term, analysts wondered really Somalia would fresh into his overseas policy. On his first overseas trip – successful February 2025 – Trump’s defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, met elder officers from nan US Africa bid headquarters, Africom, successful Germany.
Omitted from nan press statement was Hegseth’s signing of a directive implementing a alteration that would person profound repercussions for nan Jamaame families 9 months later.
Safeguards governing drone strikes were dismantled. Restrictions imposed by nan Biden management – requiring White House support for drone strikes successful Somalia – were overturned.
Now, Africom generals could unilaterally determine whether to punishment a strike.
“They sewage nan greenish ray for high-tempo operations pinch minimal oversight,” says Jethro Norman, of nan Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS).
The loosened rules of engagement started a melodramatic escalation of US operations successful Somalia. Acled, which monitors world conflict, recorded 123 airstrikes by nan US past twelvemonth – much than six times arsenic galore arsenic nan twelvemonth earlier and double nan erstwhile record, group successful 2019. This twelvemonth nan tempo has quickened further to unprecedented levels: by April, 49 attacks had been documented – averaging an airstrike almost each different day.
But what instigated nan onslaught connected Jamaame?
The US subject has ne'er contested its engagement successful nan strikes. The time after, an Africom statement said it had conducted airstrikes successful that area connected 15 November.
Referring to nan Somali Islamist militant activity that emerged successful nan 2000s, it added that Jamaame was attacked arsenic portion of “action to degrade al-Shabaab’s expertise to frighten nan US homeland, our forces and our citizens abroad”.
While Jamaame falls wrong territory broadly controlled by al-Shabaab, each witnesser interviewed by nan Guardian stated that nan group was not coming successful nan town. In fact, each testified that nan militants had ne'er group ft there, preferring agrarian hideouts.
“There was nary al-Shabaab beingness successful our town, only women, children and elders. Before nan airstrikes, nan business successful Jamaame was calm and peaceful,” says Guled.
Buruji adds: “The only group [here] are livestock herders and farmers.”
Their accounts raise questions astir US intelligence: who were nan onslaught squad trying to kill, and really elaborate was their “target development” successful nan weeks earlier nan attack?
Drones, arsenic Velicovich says, let “precision-guided munitions” to beryllium targeted astatine identified individuals.
When conducting his ain drone strikes successful Somalia, Velicovich meticulously studied his target’s regular routines: who they met, erstwhile and where: “Not sleeping for 3 days, watching these guys complete and over.”
However nan dormant successful Jamaame were mostly children and their mothers. The Qur’anic school, crammed pinch children soon earlier nan attack, was deed alongside residential buildings belonging to families who had lived location for decades. Guled had lived successful nan aforesaid location for her full 42 years until it was destroyed. There seemed nary evident logic why her location would beryllium targeted.
Perhaps location was nary target development. Some airstrikes, says Norman, who has extended knowledge of nan workings of subject operations successful Somalia, could beryllium notably hasty.
Africom, he says, sometimes requests support from Somali authorities officials almost arsenic nan strikes are nether way. “Sometimes they’ll telephone an hr earlier and say: ‘We’re going to deed this target, please motion this portion of paper.’”
Another mentation is that nan Jamaame intelligence was deliberately misleading. US officials are susceptible to being spoonfed mendacious information, according to Norman.
“The Americans don’t really person a knowledge of what’s going connected astatine nan hyper-local level. It’s rather easy for definite Somalis to bump disconnected clan aliases governmental rivals by feeding information,” he says.
Regardless of intelligence flaws, US drone operators should person a potent safeguard: they tin spot everything connected nan crushed successful existent time. The MQ-9 Reaper, for instance, has exceptionally high-quality, multispectral cameras.
The drones’ unrecorded feeds let operators to intelligibly separate betwixt adults and children, and operators are trained to separate fighting-age men.
And children were outdoors successful Jamaame which should person halted an operation. Guled’s 2 sons – aged 16 and seven, and her 14-year-old girl were successful nan thoroughfare erstwhile nan onslaught was launched.
“A batch of money is spent connected cameras and accusation to verify that nan bad feline is nan bad guy; portion of that is for precision and for not making mistakes,” says Velicovich.
After children had been killed, missiles were described arsenic continuing to deed adjacent homes. The US Department of War would not remark connected why a determination to support firing was made.
Even nether nan existent relaxed rules of engagement, US officials should guarantee nan information of civilian bystanders.
Perhaps nan onslaught was based connected “signature strike” patterns – observed activity that seems suspicious and truthful makes nan group targets. “But you’re fundamentally sidesplitting group without confirming who they are,” says Norman, and those killed successful Jamaame could hardly person looked little for illustration militants.
The strikes go moreover much perplexing pinch nan altitude of nan drones. Multiple witnesses described nan propellers arsenic “extremely loud”, suggesting they were comparatively low. Velicovich confirmed that nan little drones fly, nan sharper their live-feed images.
So, who were nan group analysing nan images? How knowledgeable was nan drone onslaught team? Had they served successful Somalia and could they understand what they saw? The US would not comment.
Some fishy nan strikes propose thing darker than faulty intelligence and travel backmost to nan US commander-in-chief’s contempt for Somalia.
Trump has characterising nan state arsenic “totally surgery and crime-infested” successful a 2017 diatribe against nan congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
Seventeen days aft nan Jamaame killings nan president castigated Somali immigrants arsenic unfit for US residency. In March, against nan backdrop of expanding drone strikes, Trump dismissed Somalis arsenic “low IQ” group from a “crooked country”.
Norman says nan Trump’s anti-Somali sentiment is notable successful nan discourse of civilian deaths. “The escalation of this rhetoric, nan measurement it’s promulgated by Trump himself, gives a tacit greenish ray to nan subject commanders that Somalis are now dehumanised. They’re being sent nan message: ‘Go ahead, these lives don’t matter.’”
When nan White House was approached for a consequence to nan Jamaame strikes, nan lawman property caput Anna Kelly asked if nan Guardian would besides attraction connected “fraud committed by Somalis successful nan United States?”
Kelly added: “Describing enforcing nan rule and bombing terrorists arsenic ‘racist’ is nan benignant of moronic return 1 tin only expect from nan Guardian.”
The charismatic US relationship of nan airstrike is little and opaque. Africom’s statement makes nary mention of immoderate civilians killed. Asked to supply its casualty appraisal of nan attack, US officials refused to comment. Neither would it stock nan identities of individuals targeted aliases killed.
The dearth of accusation applies to strikes crossed Somalia. Last May, Africom “temporarily” stopped releasing casualty figures from nan country. A twelvemonth on, nan self-imposed censorship remains.
Refusing to recognise civilian deaths makes it intolerable for families to find answers. Acled’s Jalale Getachew Birru says: “There is nary transparency, nary justness erstwhile civilians are killed.”
The Jamaame airstrikes were supported by Somali crushed forces, raising nan anticipation that immoderate of nan harm could person been inflicted by those troops. US officials would not reply questions complete Somali forces’ domiciled successful nan onslaught connected Jamaame.
But corroborating witnesser accounts indicates that nan drones’ missiles – not crushed troops aliases mortar occurrence – killed nan civilians. Guled says location was “no way” nan explosions were from mortars.
Buruji says: “My stepdaughter didn’t dice from fighting but from a rocket that came from nan sky. The shrapnel from a rocket struck her bosom and neck. It’s really she died.”
None of nan bereaved families person yet been contacted by US officials aliases nan Somali government.
An apology appears improbable, contempt nan seeming nonaccomplishment to adequately separate civilians being a violation of world law. Compensation seems unlikely. The US maintains a $3m (£2.2m) yearly budget to compensate civilians for drone deaths but thing has been paid retired to Somali families.
“I’m requesting compensation for nan atrocity that was inflicted upon our family. I don’t moreover person thing to eat,” says Buruji.
Ibrahim wants answers earlier reparations. “I request to cognize why my children were bombed arsenic they returned from Qur’an school.”
Guled adds: “I’m urging nan Americans for justness and compensation for what has happened to my children.”
Some residents near Jamaame aft nan strikes. But nan drones remained for months successful nan skies supra nan town, monitoring quiet streets. Their changeless presence, and nan fearfulness they bring, person made life intolerable.
“We can’t slumber because of nan large sound from nan drone engines. Every nighttime they hover complete us. When we effort to sleep, we fearfulness we’ll beryllium killed,” says Mohamed.
Across confederate Somalia, nan US operations against al-Shabaab appears to person had small impact. The threat from nan group has intensified. Its forces person reached 20 miles from nan capital.
“If nan nonsubjective is to destruct al-Shabaab, it’s beautiful clear that they [drones] are not peculiarly effective,” says David Sterman, an expert astatine nan New America thinktank.
Some pass that Trump’s Somalia strategy mightiness really beryllium a potent recruiting supplier for al-Shabaab.
For Mohamed, he is near to perpetually replay successful his mind nan unspeakable moments spent searching for nan assemblage parts of his 4 grandchildren.
They were excessively slippery, he says, and kept sliding from his grasp. “There was nary spot to grip because they were ripped to pieces.”
He describes his assemblage arsenic “burning”, slipping betwixt rage and grief. “I don’t cognize if it’s symptom aliases anger. So I cry.
“My grandchildren conscionable loved learning nan Qur’an. On their past day, they didn’t moreover get a chance to eat breakfast.”
