Seven-year-old risks losing ability to walk after US airstrike in Somalia

A seven-year-old boy riddled with shrapnel in a US airstrike in Somalia faces losing his ability to walk unless he has a £750 emergency operation. His family cannot afford the procedure, and the US, which refuses to admit any civilians were killed or injured in the attack six months ago, appears unwilling to pay compensation to those affected by airstrikes.

Shards of metal are lodged in two places in Abdiqadir Salah’s back and in his upper thigh after strikes that killed at least 12 civilians, including eight children. The attack on Jamaame on 15 November 2025 was described as the deadliest attack on civilians in Somalia during either Trump administration and one of the worst since the botched 1993 operation in Mogadishu.

A Guardian investigation raised questions about US intelligence, how targets were selected and why children were hit while they were in the open and likely identifiable to the drone strike team.

Somalia, Jamaame

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