Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USSOM165

Incident date

December 4, 2018

Location

Awdheegle, Lower Shabelle, Somalia

Geolocation

1.977202, 44.833162 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Four al Shabaab fighters were reported killed as the US carried out what it said was a self-defence strike in the vicinity of Awdheegle, Lower Shabelle, after US and partner forces came under attack, US Africa Command said in a statement.

Associated Press gave a detailed report on the event: “Somali commandos backed by U.S. forces raided two al-Shabab checkpoints at which the extremists extort money from commercial vehicles, killing several fighters, Somali intelligence officials said Wednesday. The officials also said two U.S. airstrikes in the area during the overnight raid destroyed an explosives-laden minibus that was prepared for a complex attack on an unspecified location. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media…

“Residents of Awdhegle, a farming village in Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia, told The Associated Press they had heard gunfire and explosions.
‘Something big happened here last night. We only know that al-Shabab was under attack,’ said one elder, who gave his name only as Yusuf for fear of reprisal from the al-Qaida-linked extremists. ‘Then we woke up to find fighters sealed off the whole area in the morning,’ he said.”

Shabelle Media said the strikes were conducted by manned aircraft rather than by drones.

AFRICOM assessed that no civilians were harmed in the strikes.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place in the town of Awdheegle, for which the coordinates are: 1.977202, 44.833162. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Known belligerent
    US Forces
  • Known target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    4

Sources (4) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

US Forces Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

US Forces

"To support the Federal Government of Somalia’s continued efforts to degrade al-Shabaab, U.S. forces conducted a self-defense airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Awdheegle, Somalia on December 04, 2018.

The U.S. airstrike was conducted against militants after U.S. and partner forces came under attack. We currently assess this airstrike killed four (4) militants with no civilians involved."

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Known belligerent
    US Forces
  • Known target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    4

Sources (4) [ collapse]