Casualty recording in Somalia
Civil society organisations are the only sources of casualty records for Somalia. There are no public efforts by national authorities or international actors to identify and document individual fatalities comprehensively and in detail. The UN presence in Somalia and some military actors have published limited statistical information on civilian casualties.
Obstacles
Civil society casualty recorders working within Somalia are hampered by constant security threats, both generalised and specifically targeted at them due to their work. Some have been murdered or kidnapped. Lack of access to specific regions due to security restrictions make it impossible for any single casualty recording initiative to conduct direct interviews and on-site investigations. Similarly, remote or open source casualty recording is limited by the lack of consistent and reliable media coverage across all regions.
The civil registration and vital statistics systems in Somalia are extremely weak, with very low levels of birth and death registration. There is also a low level of formal healthcare provision relative to the size of population, including a shortage of deathcare professionals and facilities. These chronic and widespread weaknesses create a context in which the effective identification, documentation and acknowledgement of any death is extremely challenging. These challenges are greatly exacerbated when deaths occur in large numbers or rapid succession, in isolated and/or insecure regions.
Casualty tracking by the United Nations
There has been a UN human rights monitoring presence in Somalia since 2008, first within the UN Political Office for Somalia and from 2013 as part of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). UNSOM, which was mandated by the Security Council, closed down in October 2024 and was replaced by the UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS).
In 2017, the Human Rights and Protection Group (HRPG) of UNSOM published its first public report detailing the civilian casualties it had documented between 1 January 2016 – 14 October 2017. UNSOM later published a second civilian casualty report covering the period from 2017 to 2019.
These reports contain substantial statistical information on the demographic breakdown of victims, the identity of perpetrators, and the main causes of death. However, they do not identify individual victims and therefore fall into the category of casualty tracking rather than casualty recording.
Casualty tracking by AMISOM
In 2012 the African Union Peace and Security Council agreed to establish a Civilian Casualty Tracking, Analysis and Response Cell (CCTARC) within the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). This development was the result of pressure from the UN Security Council and civil society actors who had raised concerns about the significant numbers of civilian deaths attributable to AMISOM troops.
The CCTARC became operational in 2015 and was mandated to record harm caused to civilians by AMISOM (later ATMIS) troops, in order to improve accountability and preventative measures. However, the CCTARC did not release information publicly about civilians killed or injured by AMISOM forces. It has been criticised for its lack of transparency and independence.
Casualty tracking by US military
US military forces also came under pressure from civil society groups documenting civilian fatalities of US airstrikes and the apparent lack of accountability for such actions. Although the first known US airstrikes in Somalia took place in 2007, US Africa Command only began publicly reporting on its airstrike activities in 2016. In 2020, US Africa Command began publishing quarterly reports on civilian harm allegations and investigations. These reports do not provide detail about the victim’s identity or demographics.
Continued pressure on the US government from civil society organisations for greater transparency and accountability led the Department of Defense to develop the ‘Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan’. As part of this plan, in 2023 the Department of Defense published Defense Instruction 3000.17 “Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response”. This instruction requires US military commands to publish quarterly reports on ‘the status and results of reviews, assessments, and investigations relating to civilian harm’.
Impacts
None of the procedures described above can be classified as casualty recording as they do not directly result in a detailed identification and acknowledgement of the individual victim. However, they greatly contribute to transparency around the impact of military actions. The information made public by US Africa Command about its airstrikes and internal investigations of civilian harm allegations also helps civil society casualty recorders to clarify details about the victims they have documented independently.
These processes have also made it possible for victims’ families and civil society actors to report civilian harm directly to the military actors responsible, and to seek accountability -including compensation and ex gratia payments – for survivors and relatives of those killed.
Information on individual casualties
Sources of information about people killed in armed conflict in Somalia:
Airwars is a UK-based non-profit organisation which conducts remote open-source investigations on civilian deaths in several armed conflicts worldwide. It has individually identified and documented civilians and militants killed in Somalia by airstrikes or drones since 2007.
DHRO is a Somali human rights organisation which documents human rights violations, including civilian casualties, predominantly in the Hir Shabeele State and South West State, Benadir Region.
Elman Peace is a Somalia-based organisation promoting peace and respect for human rights. They investigate and record civilian casualties of the conflict.
IHRO is a Somali human rights organisation. It has documented civilian casualties in South-West State since 2012.
Iniskoy is a Somali organisation, established in 2000. Its activities include human rights monitoring and documentation, including casualty recording. It works across Somalia and in Bay, Bokol, Gedo, Lower/Middle Shabelle and Benadir Regions in particular.
Insecurity Insight is a Swiss organisation which records the death and injury of aid and health workers, educators, and civilians within protection settings (such as refugees and IDPs) and those who experienced sexual violence in conflict. Their monitoring activities are global and includes coverage of Somalia.
KAHRDO is a Somalia-based human rights organisation which has been documenting fatalities of the armed conflict since 2017.
OCDO is a Somali human rights organisation, investigating and documenting casualties and other human rights violations in Puntland and South West Somalia.
SAHRO is a Somalia-based human rights organisation which has documented casualties of the armed conflict since 2020. It monitors human rights violations across the whole of Somalia, but with a particular focus on central and southern regions.
SASDO is a Somali organisation which documents human rights violations and conducts humanitarian activities. It has recorded casualties since 2020, focusing on South West State and Mudug region.
Somali Human Rights Association (SOHRA)
SOHRA is a Somalia-based organisation which has been documenting casualties since 2006, primarily in Banaadir and Lower Shebelle Regions.
The Somali Journalists Syndicate is based in Somalia and Kenya. It began recording casualties in 2019, with a focus on killings of journalists and othe rmedia workers. It documents casualties across Somalia and Somaliland.
