As part of the command’s commitment to transparency, U.S. Africa Command is implementing a quarterly report on the status of ongoing and completed civilian casualty allegations and assessments. This initiative was directed by U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, to increase transparency regarding civilian casualty allegations that are reported to the command while demonstrating the U.S. military’s constant commitment to minimizing collateral damage in the pursuit of military operations. “Since taking command I have placed additional focus on increasing the transparency of our process and status of closed and ongoing allegations,” said Townsend. “It is important that our partners and the public understand our commitment to minimizing collateral damage while conducting military operations. Where we come up short, we will admit it openly.”
U.S Africa Command, in coordination with African partner nations, reduces threats to the United States and our partners and conducts operations to counter violent extremist organizations (VEOs) in order to enhance regional security in Somalia, Libya, and other nations. On occasion, civilian casualty allegations surface after U.S. operations including airstrikes. These allegations arise through self-reporting by our forces, traditional and social media reporting, non-government organizations, and through internal oversight processes. In addition, input is received via the U.S. Africa Command website contact link that was established so individuals can report allegations and provide feedback. As an added measure U.S. Africa Command will implement a web page that enables the ability to report allegations in Somali, Arabic, and additional languages to broaden the ability to receive and assess information. This should be available by the end of May or soon thereafter. “There is no secret air or shadow war as some allege,” said Townsend. “How can there be when the whole world knows we are assisting Somalia in their fight against al-Shabaab terrorists? When we publically announce every single airstrike we conduct? When we publicly admit to our mistakes? Unlike al-Shabaab we do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties and that is not changing on my watch.”
U.S. Africa Command takes all allegations seriously and has processes to conduct thorough assessments using all available information that may factor into findings. In many cases, the command’s information collection efforts are based on layered and reliable intelligence sources that are not available to the public to preserve operations security. This may ultimately lead to perceived discrepancies between the command’s findings and those of others. U.S. operations are designed to provide assistance to African ground forces, disrupt terrorist plans, and create conditions to achieve progress along other lines of effort to include governance and economic development. At the same time, they eliminate part of a threat wishing harm on the U.S., African partners, and the international community. “The growing threat in Africa from terrorist networks is significant and impacts not only Africans, but also the U.S. and our international allies,” said Townsend. “Our kinetic operations in Africa follow a strict, disciplined, and precise process. Nobody is more devoted to the preservation of innocent life than the U.S. military, and our actions and processes reflect that fact…
