Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Geolocation
Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: YEMT196)
One source, Yemen Shabab, reported that a US drone strike had killed three alleged AQAP militants driving in the Mashreif area of Bayda governorate, on August 22nd 2019. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
One other Twitter source, @tlaal661, suggested on August 22nd that a “second” US strike had targeted AQAP in Marib governorate. The Mashreif area lies on the border between Bayda and Marib.
It is possible that these sources instead reflect late reporting of an alleged US strike in the same area overnight from August 20th-21st (USYEMTr203).
Given the vagueness of the Twitter source, this event has been assessed as a “single source” claim. On October 4th 2019, US Central Command told New America that no US military strikes had been conducted since June 24th 2019. This does not however preclude this having been a possible CIA action, or a clandestine US military action.
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place in the Mashreif (المشيريف) area, on the border between the Bayda and Marib governorates. The Mashreif (المشيريف) area is a valley at these coordinates: 14.7964580, 45.0407720. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Mashreif (المشيريف) valley between Bayda and Marib governorates.
Imagery: Google Earth
Mashreif (المشيريف) valley between Bayda and Marib governorates.
Imagery: Google Earth