Nearly a year after an air strike shook her town in southern Somalia, Maryam Haji Abdi Guled still accompanies her young son to school every day. She fears another child might shove him during play, disturbing a fragment of shrapnel embedded near his hip that doctors warn could leave him paralyzed if removed. Her son, Abdiqadir Salah, was seven years old when bombardments struck their neighborhood in Jamaame during a November 2025 offensive involving Somali ground forces and United States air support.
Maryam is among several survivors who describe lasting trauma, loss, and displacement following military operations against al-Shabab militants in Jubaland state. Although Jubaland authorities announced that troops had killed at least 56 fighters and captured 20, those claims could not be independently verified. Meanwhile, local clan leaders and residents say strikes hit populated areas without warning, leaving families with severe injuries and mounting medical debts. A United Nations-led monitoring network documented 12 civilian fatalities during the fighting around Jamaame.
The testimonies surface as aerial operations in Somalia escalate, with the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) recording 84 strikes through September 2026 and independent researchers tallying 88. Following allegations that strikes in Jamaame killed between 10 and 12 civilians and damaged homes, AFRICOM conducted an internal assessment. The military concluded that available information failed to meet its "more likely than not" standard for confirming civilian harm, though it did not disclose whether investigators had interviewed survivors, relatives, or local witnesses.
For families who endured the bombardment, official determinations offer little closure. Community representatives emphasize that many wounded residents remain trapped without access to specialized hospitals in Mogadishu, deterred by poverty and fears of reprisal. With the military review closed unless fresh evidence emerges, survivors are left to navigate the enduring physical, emotional, and financial aftermath on their own.