Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USSOM242

Incident date

July 29, 2019

Location

Bu'aale, Middle Juba, Somalia

Geolocation

1.251778, 42.575959 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

According to Voice of America correspondent Harun Maruf, two airstrikes by an unknown party struck al Shabaab targets in southern Somalia. One unsuccesfully targeted a ‘senior ISIS figure’ near Buaale.

According to Maruf’s tweet, “There are reports of 2 new airstrikes  in S. Somalia overnight. A strike in Jamame area reportedly hit a graduation ceremony of new recruits for Jaysh Ayman, the Al-Shabaab unit that operates in Kenya; the 2nd strike in Buale area missed to hit a senior Al-Shabaab figure, source.”

No additional public details are presently known about this event.

Asked whether it had been responsible for this event, in February 2020 a senior AFRICOM official told Airwars that this was not the case. However, this may not preclude actions by the CIA which conducts its own undeclared strikes in Somalia.

The incident occured during the night.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place in the Bu’aale area. The coordinates for the town of Bu’aale are: 1.251778, 42.575959. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerents
    US Forces, US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab

Sources (1) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

US Forces Assessment:

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

US Forces Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerents
    US Forces, US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab

Sources (1) [ collapse]