Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

SOM170b

Incident date

October 20–21, 2019

Location

Jamaame, Middle Juba, Somalia

Geolocation

0.06978, 42.748066 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local media reported a pair of alleged international airstrikes targeting the al Shabaab held towns of Jilib and Jamaame. Unusually the culprit was alleged to be France according to vague ‘sources’. However reporting remains poor.

According to Mareeg News, “A suspected French military fighter jet has carried out airstrikes against al Shabab, an al Qaeda affiliated group in the southern regions of Somalia. The strikes were conducted in Jamame and Jilib towns under control of al Shabab where over one hundred militants were killed and injured, reliable sources said.

The sources said the fighter jets fired 3 missiles at the major militant base in Jamame town where 700 armed militants stationed, killing dozens.

They [sources] says the 2nd strike was executed in Jilib town, targeting nearly 300 foreign jihadists fighting alongside al Shabaab. It is unclear how many foreign fighters were killed in the 2nd air attack.

They added there is also another raid that targeted al Shabaab militants, while the militants were regrouping to carry out an ambush attack on Somali army forces.

Neither Somali authorities nor al Shabaab commented on the latest attacks in Somalia.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention that the strike targeted a major Al Shabaab base in the town Jamaame. It is unclear where this base is located exactly, is might be around the airport, for which the coordinates are: 0.057686, 42.755259. The generic coordinates for the town Jamaame are: 0.06978, 42.748066. 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
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerents
    French Military, Unknown
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    40–50

Sources (3) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

French Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    French Military
  • French Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Unknown Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Unknown
  • Unknown position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerents
    French Military, Unknown
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    40–50

Sources (3) [ collapse]