WASHINGTON — For years, the Pentagon has maintained that no civilians have been killed in American airstrikes and raids in Somalia. The report linked the killings to President Trump’s decision to relax rules for preventing civilian casualties during American counterterrorism strikes in Somalia. Amnesty said it examined five airstrikes that killed 14 civilians and injured eight. “In the incidents presented in this report, civilians were killed and injured in attacks that may have violated international humanitarian law and could, in some cases, constitute war crimes,” the report said. The report also attributed the discrepancy to failures by the American military and the Somali government to adequately investigate claims that civilians were killed in airstrikes and raids by United States forces.

Source: New York Times March 20, 2019 00:00 UTC