Us drone crashed in Kisimayo
According to Somali military officials, the Us spy plane crashed near the port city of Kismayo, as it was helping Kenyan troops monitor the port city. Last month, Kenya dispatched soldiers over its border into Somalia and began air and ground offensives against al-Shabab fighters. Tension has been growing between the Somali government backed by Kenyan troops and al-Shabab fighters since they engaged in fierce battle over control of towns in south Somalia. Kenya accuses the fighters of being behind the kidnapping of several foreigners, including a French woman who later died in captivity, in its territory. Al-Shabab fighters deny the allegations. Somalia is the sixth country, where the United States has used the aircraft to launch missile strikes. The Us military has also used the drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen. The US government claims that the airstrikes target militants; however, most such attacks have resulted in civilian casualties. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally-displaced people in the world. Just two weeks ago we could read on Washington Post: «The Air Force has been secretly flying Reaper drones on counterterrorism missions from a remote civilian airport in southern Ethiopia as part of a rapidly expanding U.S.-led proxy war against an al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, Us military officials said.The Air Force has invested millions of dollars to upgrade an airfield in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, where it has built a small annex to house a fleet of drones that can be equipped with Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs. The Reapers began flying missions earlier this year over neighboring Somalia, where the United States and its allies in the region have been targeting al Shabab, a militant Islamist group connected to al-Qaeda».