The United States denies killing two Cuban doctors in a strike in Somalia. Washington has just published its quarterly report concerning its air operations in Somalia, in particular against Shebab terrorists. In February, the Islamists accused an American bombing of having killed the two hostages held for five years in Somalia. But the Washington report refutes this information.
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THE UNITED STATES admitted to having carried out a drone strike on February 15 near Jilib, in the south of the Somalia. But after analyzing the data, the latest American report concludes that the operation did not result in any civilian casualties. This statement contradicts that of the Shebabs.
In mid-February, in a press release in English, the terrorist group accused Washington of having carried out a strike at 12:10 a.m. against a house in Jilib, “ instantly killing Assel Herrera and Landy Rodriguez “. These two Cuban doctors had been kidnapped in northern Kenya on April 12, 2019, while they were in the country as part of an agreement between Havana and Nairobi. “ This strike shows the recklessness of the Americans, the desperate nature of their operations as well as their incompetence and the weakness of their intelligence network “, the Islamists then said. At the same time, the latter published a photo of a body without it being possible to confirm that it was one of the Cuban hostages. At the time, the United States simply confirmed that it was aware of these accusations. Their denial therefore comes four months later, after investigation.
In their report, the Americans say they looked at two other strikes on January 25, in the center and February 22, in southwest Somalia. These operations are again suspected of having killed civilians. But Africom replied that there had been no bombings at that time. The US Africa Command adds that another strike is still being analyzed.