No fewer than seven civilians, including a grandmother and five children, have been confirmed dead in central Somalia following an air strike that was targeting Islamist militants.
The government of Somali had earlier announced that it had killed three senior al-Shabab members in El Garas village.
‘The operation, which was planned with sophistication, hit [al-Shabab] hard,’ the Somali National News agency Sonna reported.
When the three victims fled the hit by entering a house belonging to a civilian, they were being followed by government intelligence.
However, the administration denied being to blame for the deaths of civilians.
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‘[Al-Shabab] placed explosive devices in a civilian house, which caused the deaths of innocent people,’ the deputy information minister of Somalia, Abdirahman Yusuf, told the BBC.
Ahmed Nur Mohamud is the husband of 60-year-old Kaha Warsame, who, along with her grandchildren, died in the strike. He said that he was 1km (1,100 yards) away from the house when the bombing happened with his second wife and their children.
‘I tried to call them, and their phones were off,’ Ahmed Nur recalls. ‘When I tried to reach my family’s house around 03:00, there were government’s solders, and I was afraid to go in. I arrived the house later and realised that the government had taken the bodies with them.’
‘I have seen that two bombs hit my family. One on their hut and another on the goat’s shelter,’ he added.
Witnesses told the BBC that they saw the Somali army removing dead bodies from the house. Additionally, the deputy information minster confirmed to the BBC that the Somali solders arrived at the scene after the bombardment.
Ahmed Nur is requesting to see the bodies of his wife and his grandchildren to find closure.
“We have never been involved with al-Shabab; we are civilians. I’m requesting the bodies of my family for burial. I demand compensation for my blood relative,” he said.