US launched at least three more strikes near Jamaame since December
Guardian readers from across the globe funded life-changing surgery for a Somali boy who was seriously injured in a US drone strike on his village nearly a year earlier, according to reporting by Mohamed Gabobe in Mogadishu published Monday.
Seven-year-old Abdiqadir Salah was impaled by shrapnel in the attack on Jamaame, alongside his two siblings. The strike killed at least 12 civilians, including eight children, the Guardian’s investigation found. Several pieces of shrapnel remained embedded in Abdiqadir’s back, and doctors feared that without an operation to remove them, he would lose his ability to walk.
His mother, Marian Haji Abdi Guled, had no money for the procedure. For 10 months, the family languished in Mogadishu — unable to afford surgery, but unwilling to let the boy return to the village without it.
After the Guardian published its investigation into the strike, readers from around the world contributed to a fundraising campaign. Within a few hours, enough money was raised to cover Abdiqadir’s treatment and rehabilitation, along with medical expenses for her other two children, who sustained less extensive injuries.
“I was so happy when I found out that Guardian readers raised the money needed for my son’s surgery. I didn’t know people like this existed,” Guled said. “The people who contributed to the surgery – I really appreciate their support and how they stood by our family when we needed it the most.”
On a Saturday morning in September, Guled waited anxiously as Abdiqadir was taken into surgery at Kaafi hospital in Mogadishu. “Other patients were taken into surgery after him and came out before him – so I worried maybe something went wrong,” she said. “I got to a point where I knocked on the operating room door asking if my son was still alive, then was held back by other patients.”
Doctors told Guled the surgery had been successful, but complex. While two pieces of shrapnel from the missile had been successfully removed, taking out the final piece was considered too risky, possibly resulting in paralysis. They concluded it was safer to leave it and monitor his condition.
When the Guardian visited Abdiqadir a few weeks later, he appeared bright, energized and visibly happy. “I have one piece of metal still in me, and if they touch it, I might become paralysed,” the seven-year-old said. “[But] I don’t have any problem with the last piece of metal in my body, because I’m no longer in pain.”
The Guardian investigation into the strike raised questions about US military intelligence, including how the targets were selected and why children were hit while they were visible and out in the open. The US has not responded to any questions about the Jamaame attack, according to the Guardian.
In the months since, US strikes on the area have continued. From December 2025 to July 2026, the US carried out at least three airstrikes around Jamaame, according to research by New America. Residents told the Guardian that drones continue to fly above the town.
“We cannot return to Jamaame because what caused my children to be hurt is still there,” Guled said. “I fled Jamaame with my wounded children because of the drones, and the drones are still [flying].”
With the remaining financial support she received from Guardian readers, Guled plans to relocate with her children to the government-controlled port city of Kismayo, which has not been the target of drone strikes, and where Abdiqadir can receive further surgery if needed.
She still wants answers from the US government, nearly a year after they were bombed. “My son has been left scarred for life,” she said. “I want the US government be held accountable for what they did to my family and for the US to stop bombing our community.”