Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Geolocation
Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: SOM141)
A confirmed US action, striking approximately 23 miles east of Beledweyne in the Hiran Region, killed 35 militants while no civilians were harmed, an AFRICOM statement asserted the next day.
The airstrike targeted armed al Shabaab militants “as they were transitioning between locations in a rural area”, the US command said.
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Gregg Olson, US Africa Command director of operations, stated in the press release: “In the case of this strike, we interrupted an Al Shabaab attempt to mass their forces. Precision strikes eliminated a potential threat to our partners and to the people of Somalia well before the terrorists ever got themselves organized.
“US Africa Command have assessed that 35 terrorists were killed in this strike and no civilians were killed or injured.”
Local news agency Radio Kulmiye reported clashes that day “between Beledweyne and Mahas town, in the Hiran region. Residents told KNN that the fighting erupted last night [February 24th] in Hiran region, and residents have been terrorized.”
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place in the area 23 miles east of the town Belet Weyne. The generic coordinates for this area are: 4.731534, 45.541138. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.