Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USSOM270

Incident date

January 22, 2020

Location

Sakow district, Middle Juba, Somalia

Geolocation

1.803300, 41.834969 Note: The accuracy of this location is to District level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local reports claimed that US airstrikes had targeted al Shabaab bases near Sakow in Middle Juba, in support of ground operations by Somali forces. AFRICOM itself did not publicly report any strikes on this date.

Goobjoog News reported what it said were US strikes in support of Somali ground operations “around Sakow district, the airstrike also raids and destructed another Al-Shabaab militia base, which had been stockpiling weapons and military equipment.”

It was not stated whether any alleged militants were harmed in the attack.

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 an email exchange with Airwars on February 4th 2020, an official stated: “In short, U.S. Africa Command did not conduct any kinetic operations on Jan. 22, as alleged in your query.”

The incident was first reported on January 22, 2020 at 8:00 am by Mohamed Dhaysane.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention strikes within the Sakow district, for which the generic coordinates are: 1.803300, 41.834969. Due to limited information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–2

Sources (1) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

US Forces Assessment:

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

Original strike reports

US Forces

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.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–2

Sources (1) [ collapse]