Friday, March 31, 2017

US Eases Combat Rules in Somalia

The New York Times published on 30 March 2017 an article titled "Trump Eases Combat Rules in Somalia Intended to Protect Civilians" by Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt.

It reports that the U.S. Africa Command, operating under new guidelines, may treat Somalia under less-restrictive battlefield rules. Without interagency vetting, commanders may strike people thought to be al-Shabaab fighters based only on that status, without any reason to think that the individual target poses a particular and specific threat to Americans.

Foreign Policy published an article on the same development on 30 March 2017 titled "Trump Expands War Authorities to Target Militants in Somalia" by Paul McLeary.