Geolocation
Airwars assessment
At least five alleged AQAP militants were killed in the course of at least four reported US drone strikes in Qayfa, Bayda governorate, on the evening of January 12th 2018. According to local-language news sources, at least one strike targeted the area of Dhi Kalib village. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
A local official told Russia Today that four “raids” targeted AQAP militants in Dhi Kalib village. Local language sources including @almasdaronline and Akhbar Al-Aan also reported strikes in Dhi Kalib.
There were also reports of strikes in Jabal Novan, Al-Jassima and Hami Liqah areas of Qayfa on January 12th. Unique events have been created separately to account for these reports.
Several sources indicated that strikes in Qayfa on the 12th resulted in a number of militant deaths and injuries. Locals reportedly told Al Yom Press that “the raids targeted a site for the militants as well as a car belonging to them, and resulted in deaths and injuries”. Two English-language sources, @demolinari and @switch_d, further named one of the dead as Jawas Ahmed. These reports are accounted for in event USYEMTr132.
In an email to the Long War Journal, a US Central Command spokesperson confirmed that a strike took place against AQAP in Bayda on January 12th. There were no known reports of strikes against AQAP beyond the vicinity of Qayfa on that day. This confirmation has been accounted for in event USYEMTr132, though it could have applied to any or all of the reported strikes in Qayfa, Bayda, on January 12th.
The incident occured in the evening.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Dhi Kalib (ذي كالب ) for which the generic coordinates are: 14.555183, 44.882332. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.