Guardian readers fund surgery for Somali boy injured in US airstrike

Guardian readers raised money for Abdiqadir Salah’s treatment after he was seriously injured in a US drone strike on Jamaame, Somalia. His mother, Marian Haji Abdi Guled, could not afford an operation, while doctors feared he might lose the ability to walk without one.

The donations covered surgery, rehabilitation and medical care for Guled’s two other children, who were also injured, less seriously. The money was raised within hours of the Guardian publishing its investigation into the strike.

Surgery and the remaining shrapnel

Abdiqadir underwent surgery at Kaafi hospital in Mogadishu in September. Doctors said the operation was successful but complex: two pieces of shrapnel were removed, while a third was left in place because removing it could cause paralysis.

When the Guardian visited a few weeks later, the boy said he was no longer in pain, though a piece of metal remained in his body. Doctors planned to monitor his condition.

Jamaame strike and further attacks

The Guardian investigation found that the strike injured Abdiqadir and his two siblings and killed at least 12 civilians, including eight children. The US has not responded to the publication’s questions about the attack.

New America, a research organisation that tracks US military operations abroad, recorded at least three US airstrikes near Jamaame from December 2025 to July 2026. Residents say drones continue to fly over the town.

Guled said she could not return to Jamaame while the threat to her children remained. She plans to use the remaining donations to move with them to the government-controlled port city of Kismayo, where Abdiqadir could receive further surgery if needed. She also wants the US government to answer for the attack and hold those responsible accountable.