When a Somali Elder Becomes a US Target: Who Decides?

[Deeq A.]

The US drone strike that killed Omar Abdullahi Ibrahim, conducted with the cooperation of the Federal Government of Somalia, casts doubt on the reliability of the intelligence used to designate Somali civilians for targeted killings.

Badhan (Opinion) — Yesterday the United States of America stated it had killed Omar Abdullahi Ibrahim, a traditional Somali leader, last week near Badhan district in Sanaag. The area in which US drones targeted Omar is currently controlled by Puntland State of Somalia. The press release from AFRICOM states that the US carried out the attack in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia.

To carry out such an attack on a person suspected of terrorist links, the party launching the attack acts on intelligence provided by partner organisations. Since the federal National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) does not operate in Puntland State, who supplied the US with the intelligence on which it based its decision to assassinate Omar Abdullahi Ibrahim?

Until yesterday the Puntland State government was under pressure to issue a statement on the death of Omar. The statement from AFRICOM does not exempt Puntland State from the obligation to share with the family of the slain man how the US concluded that Omar was “an arms dealer for Al-Shabaab.”

Moreover, the US has a history of killing Somali civilians by mistake. In 2020 BBC News reported that “the US military has admitted to causing civilian casualties as a result of an air strike in Somalia.”

“A respected Somali elder met the President of Puntland at the PMPF compound in Bosaso only [a] few days ago. This weekend he was killed in an airstrike & branded “al Shabaab.” This is not only false, it is dangerous. If an elder can meet a Somali leader in daylight & then be declared a terrorist by nightfall, what message does that send? That no Somali authority or individuals is safe from foreign mislabelling & targeting with impunity!” tweeted Abdisaid Muse, the former Foreign Minister of Somalia, who was once the National Security Adviser to President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo.

Somalia needs help with defeating transnational terrorist organisations, but information on which foreign countries use drones in Somalia should not lead to the killing of innocent people. Omar Abdullahi Ibrahim has never been blacklisted. The US should come clean on the killing of a Somali nabaddoon (peacemaker) whom Puntland State has never regarded as a terrorism sympathiser.

Jama S. I. Ali is a lawyer in Badhan.

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