The UN’s Call for Global Ceasefire Hasn’t Stopped the U.S. from Bombing Somalia

When the U.N. secretary-general called for a global ceasefire in March while the world battles COVID-19, most countries supported the measure — but not the U.S.

In fact, the U.S. has been quietly ramping up airstrikes in al Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia for months, and human rights groups on the ground are sounding the alarm over civilian casualties.

Using open-source material like cell phone footage and satellite images, Amnesty International is investigating credible reports of civilian deaths, many of which have so far been unexplained and unaccounted for by the U.S. military’s Africa Command.

 “They’ll say they killed three terrorists, but when we actually track down the names of these people, their families, we find really a different story,” said Brian Castner, a weapons investigator for Amnesty.

In this VICE News exclusive, Seb Walker combs through the cell phone footage and photos of weapons fragments to understand the details of several contested attacks.

He speaks to a man whose family was targeted in an attack earlier this year, and interviews Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar about what it will take to hold the government accountable.