Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Local reports claimed that US airstrikes had targeted al Shabaab bases near Hargessa Yarey village in Middle Juba, in support of ground operations by Somali forces. AFRICOM itself did not publicly report any strikes on this date.
According to Goobjoog News, “Airstrike operations targeting Al-Shabab militant launch by U.S Africom with Somalia forces in Middle juba kill militia’s officials on Wednesday. According to Somali National Army officials, the shelling occurred in small areas between Jilib and Bu’alle in Middle Juba, causing casualties to Al-Shabab militants. Some of the militia’s bases were destroyed by the shelling on the outskirts of the Hargesa yarey village in the middle juba region.
“Meanwhile, around Sakow district, the airstrike also raids and destructed another Al-Shabaab militia base, which had been stockpiling weapons and military equipment.”
Anatolia Agency reporter Mohamed Dhaysane also reported strikes though did not identify a party, noting in a tweet that “Airstrike targeted alshabab facilities in Middle and lower #Juba provinces in Southern #Somalia, reports say several #AlShabaab have been killed”.
In a February 4th 2020 email exchange, an AFRICOM official informed Airwars that “In short, U.S. Africa Command did not conduct any kinetic operations on Jan. 22, as alleged in your query.”
The incident occured in the morning.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention multiple strikes in the area between the towns of Bu’aale and Jilib, for which the generic coordinates are: 0.760817, 42.668219. Due to limited information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (1) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
AFRICOM (via email) February 4th 2020
In short, U.S. Africa Command did not conduct any kinetic operations on Jan. 22, as alleged in your query.