A seven-year-old boy who was riddled with shrapnel during a deadly US airstrike in Somalia faces losing his ability to walk unless he has an emergency operation costing $1,000 (£750). This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

Abdiqadir Salah has shrapnel lodged in his back and thigh. His family cannot afford the surgery, and the US refuses to admit that any civilians were killed or injured in its attack six months ago and appears unwilling to pay compensation.

The US airstrike occurred on 15 November 2025 in the town of Jamaame, killing at least 12 civilians, including eight children. It is the deadliest attack on civilians in Somalia during either Trump administration and one of the worst since the 1993 Black Hawk Down operation.

Abdiqadir's mother, Marian Haji Abdi Guled, said he was in the street outside his home when he was struck by a missile. "That's where three of my children got wounded. All three of them were laying on the ground covered in blood. When I tried to tend to them, shells began falling everywhere. There was no warning before the strikes but we could hear drones hovering above," she said.

After the attack, Guled took her three injured children into the countryside to flee the drones. Her eldest, Mohamed, 16, had shrapnel in his fingers, while her daughter Sumaya, 14, had three metal fragments lodged in her head. Abdiqadir's X-rays show shrapnel near his hip socket.

"They bled throughout the night. We couldn't leave the countryside because we feared the drones would bomb us again," Guled said.

The next day, Guled traveled 60 km to Jilib, but the hospital could not help. After borrowing money, she traveled with Abdiqadir and his sister to Mogadishu. "My oldest still has shrapnel but I left him because I couldn't afford to take him. During the two days to reach Mogadishu, we couldn't eat anything. All I thought about was saving my children," she said.

Although her daughter received treatment, Abdiqadir urgently needs surgery. Doctors at Kaafi hospital in Mogadishu told his mother that the shrapnel must be removed to avoid life-changing consequences. "They told me if the shrapnel isn't removed, it could affect his ability to walk. But I don't have $1,000. What's worse than being a mother who can't do anything for her wounded children?" Guled said.

Guled has stayed in Mogadishu because it is the only place her child can get treatment. However, the cost of renting accommodation in the capital – nearly £190 a month – makes it impossible to save for the surgery.

The US has not paid compensation to any Somali civilians injured in airstrikes. Under the Trump administration, the Pentagon also quietly scrapped a program requiring prevention and response to civilian deaths.

"I don't know where the money will come from. The children's father is back at the farm in Jamaame; he also doesn't have money to reach Mogadishu," Guled said.

The airstrikes were conducted alongside Somali ground forces, suggesting some casualties may have been inflicted by those troops. However, witness testimonies describe the Jamaame casualties as caused by bombs dropped from the air.