US forces accused of ‘weaponising’ Somalia’s floods by trapping women and children in the path of El Niño
US forces in Somalia are being accused of deliberately forcing civilians toward flood-prone areas during intensified airstrikes against al-Shabaab, as El Niño threatens catastrophic flooding.
The water was rising rapidly. It had already reached Cayni Ali's waist. Her home, five meters from the flooded River Juba in southern Somalia, never stood a chance. There was nowhere to go. Ali's city of Jilib was under attack. Repeated airstrikes, said the mother of six, were pinning its population beside the rising river.
The ongoing conflict represents a legally ambiguous war coordinated by the United States in East Africa, where accountability for harm to Somali civilians remains minimal. Sources reveal a potentially darker dimension to the offensive against al-Shabaab's de facto capital: the military strategy appears to be seeking to drown those living in al-Shabaab territory by "weaponizing" a rapidly strengthening El Niño.
Weaponizing Weather
The US military strategy allegedly exploits El Niño as a weapon of war, forcing civilians toward flood-prone areas. "The airstrikes are forcing people to go close to the river. It's an extremely aggressive offensive, exploiting El Niño as a weapon of war to push the population into flood-prone areas," said a source monitoring the Juba floodplain.
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