Geolocation
Airwars assessment
AFRICOM reported that the previous day it had conducted “a precision airstrike in Somalia against al-Shabaab on Thurs., Sept. 7 at approximately 2:45 p.m. local Somalia time”.
The release made no mention of civilian harm. However, AFRICOM asserted that the strike had killed “one (1) terrorist”.
The strike was carried out under authorities passed in March declaring certain parts of Somalia areas of “active hostilities”. This gave US commanders greater freedom to carry out strikes and raids without going through the White House bureaucracy.
This was the second strike to have taken place in the vicinity of Barawe, a port town, in a week. A US Africa Command spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Falvo, told Associated Press that he did not have the identity of the al Shabaab member killed.
According to VOA the attack happened near Barawe: “Somali officials say there were two people in the car that was hit in the strike late Thursday. The statement from AFRICOM says one “terrorist” was killed. The mayor of Barawe, Aden Omar Madobe, told VOA Somali it’s not clear who was targeted.”
In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had struck what it says were al Shabaab fighters, in the vicinity of Kunyo Barrow.
The incident occured at approximately 2:45 pm local time.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Kunya Barrow (حرمك), near Baraawe. The coordinates for Kunya Barrow are: 0.7928186, 43.3841839. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted a precision airstrike in Somalia against al-Shabaab on Thurs., Sept. 7 at approximately 2:45 p.m. local Somalia time, killing one (1) terrorist.
The operation occurred near Baraawe, Somalia, about 270 kilometers southwest of the capital, Mogadishu. The U.S. conducted this operation within the parameters of the authorities granted by the President in March 2017, which allows U.S. forces to conduct lethal action against al-Shabaab within a geographically-defined area in support of partner forces in Somalia.
Al-Shabaab has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and is dedicated to providing safe haven for terrorist attacks throughout the world. Al-Shabaab has publicly committed to planning and conducting attacks against the U.S. and our partners in the region.
U.S. forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect Americans and to disable terrorist threats. This includes partnering with AMISOM and Somali National Security Forces (SNSF); targeting terrorists, their training camps and safe havens throughout Somalia, the region and around the world.