Civilian Casualties From Military Drone Proliferation

By Darius Spearman (africanelements)

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Shadow of MALE Drones Over Africa

Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones loom over African skies like vultures circling prey. These machines operate nonstop for over 30 hours at altitudes where they become invisible threats. Their sensors track movement across villages while pilots sit safely thousands of miles away (Heron TP Specifications).

Conflict zones see these drones as force multipliers but civilians experience them as instruments of terror. A market bombing in Ethiopia’s Amhara region killed 38 people including children in 2021. Survivors still hear phantom rotor blades years later (Explosive Weapons Report). Meanwhile drone manufacturers profit from what security analysts call “remote-control imperialism”.

Bayraktar’s Grim Harvest in Ethiopia

Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 drones reaped a bloody harvest across Ethiopia’s farmlands since 2021. These UAVs fire MAM-L smart munitions that authorities claim only hit military targets. Ground investigations reveal charred school uniforms and wedding dresses at strike sites (Explosive Weapons Report).

The Ethiopian government denies responsibility calling casualties “regrettable errors”. Yet survivors describe missiles falling during midday meals when combatants rarely congregate. This pattern suggests deliberate terror tactics rather than faulty intelligence. Consequently entire regions now suffer phantom drone syndrome with villagers diving for cover at passing birds.

Proliferation Pathways and Forgotten Safeguards

African governments acquire combat drones through three rapacious pipelines. Direct purchases from Turkey and China dominate followed by UAE intermediaries and black market deals. A Nigerian general’s 2023 memo called drones “the new status symbol of power” (Military ISTAR Report).

International safeguards crumble under geopolitical realpolitik. While Europe debates drone export rules its members still supply components through shell companies. This hypocrisy fuels an arms free-for-all where children’s bodies become collateral damage. Thus the skies grow darker as profit margins climb higher.

Cheap Warfare’s Human Cost

Pilots sipping coffee in Ankara control rooms conduct what militaries euphemistically call “kinetic operations” over Ethiopia. Each $50,000 Bayraktar missile creates $5 million in lifelong trauma costs for survivors. Widows describe learning of husbands’ deaths through social media videos of their remains (Explosive Weapons Report).

The math of modern warfare grows increasingly lopsided. Drones reduce financial costs but amplify human suffering exponentially. Until accountability mechanisms match technological advances African civilians remain trapped in aerial hunting grounds. Their blood waters the roots of what analysts grimly call the drone industrial complex.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darius Spearman is a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College, where he has been teaching since 2007. He is the author of several books, including Between The Color Lines: A History of African Americans on the California Frontier Through 1890. You can visit Darius online at africanelements.org.