Geolocation
Airwars assessment
US forces carried out a strike against al Shabaab militants on April 16th near Leego, an Africa Command spokesperson told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in early May.
AFRICOM made no mention of civilian harm.
An AFRICOM spokespersons noted that “No terrorists were killed and no equipment was destroyed in this strike.”
Leego is described by Voice of America as a strategic town in the Lower Shabelle region, located 120 kilometers from Mogadishu. Al Shabaab fighters retook the town in August last year (2017).
In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM confirmed it had targeted on this date what it says were “al-Shabaab Fighters”, in the vicinity of Leego, Somalia.
No additional details are presently known for this event.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place in the vicinity of Leego (ليغو), for which the coordinates are: 2.71437, 44.50902 Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (2) [ collapse]
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
Via email from Africom to BIJ, May 1st,, 2018:
"April 16: In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants on April 16 near Leego, Somalia. No terrorists were killed and no equipment was destroyed in this strike. "