Airwars assessment
Between one or two civilians were allegedly injured in US or Kenyan airstrike on Araboow.
Halgan Media reported: “A series of blasts rocked a rural town of Araboow overnight in Somalia’s Middle Jubba province. The blasts said to be a result of a barrage of missiles fired down on the Militant controlled town.
Sources that spoke with Halgan Media revealed US drones launched 10 simultaneous strikes targeting the town of Araboow. The strikes are said to have hit three mini buses parked at a transit junction in the town.
Two civilians where confirmed to have been wounded in the indiscriminate aerial bombardment, while three mini buses where nearly obliterated and almost unrecognizable following the strikes.
The civilians in the mini buses targeted in the strike are said to have departed the capital Mogadishu and where traveling to the Kenyan occupied Northern Frontier District (NFD). The group than stopped in the town of Araboow to break there fast for ‘iftar’ when they where besieged by US droned according to sources.”
Somali Memo said one civilian was injured and added that the strike could have been conducted by Kenya or the US.
AFRICOM denied conducting a strike on Twitter, which it reiterated in an email to Airwars.
The incident occured during the night.
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
US Forces Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
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May 12, 2020, (Unsubstantiated) USAFRICOM received one allegation from an online media source claiming an unspecified number of civilians were killed as a result of a suspected U.S. airstrike in the vicinity of Araboow, Somalia, on May 11, 2020. After review, the allegation was assessed to be unsubstantiated because no U.S. military strike took place on the alleged date or at the alleged location.