Somalia demands explanation from US for airstrike

By Mohamed Adam

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - The Somali government on Friday demanded an explanation from the United States on an airstrike, which Somalia said had killed 22 people.

The attack allegedly struck the Galmudug administration army facility in the village of Jehdin in the Mudug region of north-central Somalia.

A statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting in Mogadishu said: “The Somali government asked U.S. authorities in the region to explain the airstrikes which killed our soldiers and our civilians after a missile hit a Somali army base in Mudug.”

The cabinet said the airstrike had been carried out without the knowledge of the Somali federal government.

The statement said it would appoint a ministerial committee to investigate.

”The airstrike was a misdirect from the U.S. and Puntland forces,” said the statement.

After the alleged airstrike on the base Wednesday, Abdi Osman Nor had said: “American airstrikes targeted our forces based in the region and killed 17 and injured 15 after Puntland Administration authorities gave wrong information about our base.”

Puntland is a self-declared autonomous region in northern Somalia.

A Pentagon source had also told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that “a Somali-led counter-terrorism operation to interdict an al-Shabaab IED-making network” had been taking place.

Washington has said nine al-Shabaab militants had been killed in the airstrike but that an investigation was underway.