Experts warn US air raids in
by Michel Moutot Mon Jan 29,
PARIS (
US military forces have carried out several attacks on Islamist targets or suspected members of Al-Qaeda since the start of the month, but
Local Somali chief Sheikh Abullahi Ali Molabon has claimed that about 100 civilian nomads died in one raid.
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"If anyone gets hurt in your tribe, either you accept the price for the bloodshed or you kill the assailant."
"These raids will be used to justify a mobilisation against less efficient and less well-protected troops than US planes -- ground troops from
Marchal warned that the region was potentially facing increasing insecurity because of the
Karin von Hippel, a former UN mission member in
"I'm very concerned about these air strikes," said Hippel who works for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
"Over the past decade, the
"A lot of Somalis have local fights and are pretty smart about getting international forces to help them fight their local fights.
Experts believe that in a tribal society like
"These air raids can only make the Islamic Tribunals (militia) more palatable for the people," regretted Francois Grignon,
"Collateral damage provokes hatred and fury among people who suffer from it, all the more so as the Americans have so far not given any proof of their victory: no terrorist leader has apparently been wiped out."
"The aim seems to be to score at home: to show that they do not hesitate to use a big stick."
Hippel, who is regularly consulted by US authorities, said she was told during these meetings, "We have to build as many schools as we kill terrorists," but added, "They don't do that."
"You talk to CIA people, they tell you that of course they perfectly understand that, and then they just go on killing people, so... I don't understand why the rhetoric is not matched by reality."
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