A recent Amnesty International report documenting war crimes by US-backed forces in Somalia and US air strikes that have killed more Somali civilians than alleged al-Qaeda operatives underscore Washington’s role in Somalia’s humanitarian crisis.  However, Washington has defended its role in Somalia as part of the “war on terror”, a rhetorical tact to establish a US military presence in the Horn of Africa and control the region’s potential oil reserves. 

Analysis

London-based NGO Amnesty International issued a report this week documenting widespread atrocities against Somali civilians by US-backed Ethiopian occupation forces and Somali government troops.

Although both sides in Somalia’s civil war have committed atrocities, the report emphasizes the actions of US-backed forces, with Somali refugees describing Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops carrying out summary executions, torture, gang rapes, and the arbitrary detention of civilians in war-torn Mogadishu as well as neighbourhoods suspected of sympathies to the Islamist insurgency.

Ethiopia rebukes the report, which has been overlooked by US media in preference of coverage on Darfur, Tibet, and Zimbabwe.