Growing up in a nomadic family in central Somalia’s Galgaduud region, Luul Dahir Mohamed, like many girls in her Bedouin community, never had the chance to attend school. As she matured, married, and became a mother to two children, Mohamed and Mariam, she envisioned a brighter future for them. Following the dissolution of her marriage, the young mother made the courageous decision to leave her rural home in Bergan and move to the central Somali city of El Buur in 2018, hoping to secure a better life for her family.
Tragically, just months after relocating, Luul and her four-year-old daughter were killed. On April 1, 2018, as they traveled in a pickup truck with other passengers toward the town of Dac, about 11 miles from El Buur, the vehicle was struck by a U.S. drone. According to local reports and Luul’s family, U.S. military forces targeted the truck, claiming to have hit “terrorists” but causing civilian casualties instead.
“Luul had only been in El Buur for a couple of months before she was killed in the drone strike,” her brother, Abubakar Dahir Mohamed, stated from the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Eyewitness accounts and media reports describe the aftermath: local residents discovered multiple bodies at the site, with Luul found 60 meters away from the vehicle, holding the lifeless body of her child, whose small frame was marred by shrapnel.
“When they fired on the vehicle, Luul made it out with her daughter. They knew it was a woman and child, and then they fired once again, killing them both in the second strike,” Abubakar lamented. “The Americans claim to uphold human rights, but apparently, when it comes to people like my sister and niece, their lives don’t matter.”
The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), responsible for military operations across the continent, has conducted over 410 airstrikes in Somalia since 2005, with 37 of those in 2018 alone. After the April 1 strike, AFRICOM initially stated that it had targeted “five terrorists” and destroyed one vehicle, asserting that no civilians were harmed. However, a year later, under pressure from human rights organizations, AFRICOM conducted an internal review and acknowledged that a “mother and child” had indeed been killed near El Buur, marking the first admission of civilian casualties from its ongoing air campaign in Somalia.
This month, Humanus, a legal rights organization representing victims of such attacks, received a letter from AFRICOM confirming Luul and her daughter’s deaths. While the letter expressed AFRICOM’s commitment to learning from the incident, it stated that providing a “condolence payment” to Luul’s family, which includes her now 13-year-old son, is “not feasible.” This decision has sparked outrage among victims’ families and advocacy groups.
“AFRICOM has never reached out to us directly,” Abubakar explained, detailing his futile attempts to contact the command through various avenues, including the civilian harm reporting portal. “I even left them my contact details, but I never received a response.”
In the wake of the internal review, AFRICOM launched a civilian casualty reporting form on its website. However, this initiative has faced criticism for its accessibility: the form is only available in English, a language unfamiliar to many Somalis, and is virtually unreachable for civilians in areas controlled by al-Shabab, where internet access is limited.
“The current civilian complaint system is profoundly inadequate for the context,” Eva Buzo, executive director of Humanus, remarked. “It is a system that has repeatedly failed victims.”
Despite the barriers, Abubakar persevered in his attempts to seek answers about the deaths of his sister and niece, but his inquiries went unanswered. AFRICOM claimed that representatives of the affected families had engaged with them, which Abubakar disputed, asserting that no one was representing his family during his outreach efforts.
The plight of the Kusow family illustrates the broader tragedy of U.S. drone strikes in Somalia. On February 2, 2020, their home in Jilib was struck while they were preparing dinner, resulting in one death and multiple injuries. Initially, AFRICOM claimed the strike targeted a terrorist, but their own internal review later contradicted this, revealing that a civilian was killed.
Mohamed Osman Abdi, a relative of the Kusow family, expressed his outrage: “Bombing people while they’re having dinner, only to say they killed terrorists despite having the capabilities to determine who the targets actually are beforehand, shows their complete disregard for the lives of my family.”
The attack left Mohamed’s 74-year-old mother-in-law injured and unable to walk, while his young nieces suffered devastating psychological trauma. The family lived in fear of another drone strike as they buried their loved one, with drones hovering ominously overhead during the funeral procession.
Humanus has been advocating for both the Kusow and Luul’s families since 2023, striving to secure accountability from AFRICOM. However, the command’s refusal to pay compensation is indicative of a wider “culture of impunity” that has characterized U.S. drone operations in Somalia for years.
“AFRICOM’s refusal to provide compensation is deeply disappointing,” Buzo stated. “It reinforces the perception that seeking justice through official military channels is an incredibly difficult and often unrewarding process for victims.”
The U.S. has carried out more than 200 air raids in Somalia during Donald Trump’s presidency, surpassing all previous administrations combined. Despite this, the U.S. maintains a narrative of accountability and oversight, all while families like Luul’s and the Kusows continue to suffer from the consequences of military actions that disregard civilian life.
For Abubakar and Mohamed, the U.S. military’s indifference feels like a second blow, compounding their grief. “It’s painful and shows how desperate they are to rid themselves of any accountability,” Mohamed said. “The manner in which they treated our family shows the world that the American government is not genuine about upholding international law and human rights. It’s like they killed us twice.”
