(Previous Incident Code: YEMT090A)

Multiple sources reported that US airstrikes, or possibly US naval strikes, targeted alleged AQAP militants in the Al Maraqisha area of Abyan governorate, late on July 23rd 2017. Other sources reported similar strikes in the area the previous night, though did not assign responsibility to the US. There were no known reports of civilian harm.

Twitter user @demolinari, a usually reliable source, indicated on July 23rd that there were reports of US strikes in the area. Some, such as @drwaheepsaad and @Sbyhy1, specified that strikes targeted locations in Al-Maraqisha including Mogan, Husn Saeed, and Al-Maroun.

The latter source, @Sbyhy1, stated late on July 23rd that there was “news of deaths”. Given this, Airwars has assessed that at least two militants were reportedly killed in the alleged strikes.

Earlier sources from the previous night, also describing attacks in the same area, did not assign responsibility to the US. These sources further suggested that strikes targeted the Al-Waddi district of Abyan, from the direction of Al-Maraqisha, and one, @AdenNowNews, reported “hundreds of deaths”. Since these reports did not assign responsibility to the US, they are not accounted for in a unique event.