Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USYEMTr153

Incident date

March 6, 2018

Location

Al Abr District , Hadramaut, Yemen

Geolocation

15.902375, 47.219628 Note: The accuracy of this location is to District level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

News agency Xinhua reported that according to a local security official, a US drone strike had killed four alleged AQAP militants in Al Abr, in Hadhramout governorate, on March 6th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.

A second source, Mosnad News, published on March 6th, also reported that a US strike had killed four AQAP militants, but did not give a date.

There were several reports of strikes in the same area during early March 2018, many of which aligned with strikes confirmed by US Central Command, including three on March 4th-5th that reportedly collectively killed at least four militants and one civilian.

Since the second source could have been referring to one of these other reported events – and since CENTCOM has declared no strikes for March 6th itself – this incident has been assessed as a single-source claim. It is possible that the Xinhua source also reflects a late report of one of these other events.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck in the Al Abr District (مديرية العبر) for which the generic coordinates are: 15.902375, 47.219628. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

  • Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck in the Al Abr District (مديرية العبر).

    Imagery:
    Google Earth

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 belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    4

Sources (3) [ collapse]

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 belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    4

Sources (3) [ collapse]