Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Geolocation
Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: YEMT165)
A single source, Al-Masdar Online, suggested that a US drone strike had targeted alleged AQAP militants in Merkhat, in Shabwa governorate, on the evening of July 4th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
“The source told Al-Masdar Online that the air strike targeted the militants in the Merkhat area last Wednesday evening [July 4th], which led to the killing of the extremist militants and the burning of their car completely. He pointed out that the dead are armed men, among whom there are no leaders.”
It is possible that this source refers to another alleged US drone strike in Shabwa on July 6th 2018 (USYEMTr173), or that some of the sources listed in the later event refer instead to a strike on July 4th.
In a statement on recent strikes in Yemen issued by CENTCOM on August 30th 2018, no mention was made of a US action on July 4th.
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention the Merkhat (مرخة) area, within Shabwa (شبوة) governorate. This could refer to either the Merkhat Al Olya (مرخة العليا)or the Merkhat Al Sufla (مرخة السفلى) districts. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for these areas are: 14.681653, 46.144336.
Reports of the incident mention the Merkhat (مرخة) area, within Shabwa (شبوة) governorate. This could refer to either the Merkhat Al Olya (مرخة العليا)or the Merkhat Al Sufla (مرخة السفلى) districts.
Imagery: Google Earth