Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USYEMTr238

Incident date

December 15, 2021

Location

آل عوشان, Al Awshan, Ma'rib, Yemen

Geolocation

15.56779, 45.47923 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least one Al Qaeda member was killed by alleged US drone strikes on a house in the Hadba Al-Awshan area on December 15, 2021.

Yemen Anbaa News reported that a drone believed to be American killed an emir of Al Qaeda in an abandoned house in the Hadba Al-Awshan area. He was alleged to be returning from “fighting in the ranks of the [Saudi] coalition forces in one of the Wadi Ubaidah areas” and after he was killed, members of Al Qaeda removed his body “amid great secrecy” about his identify.

According to @18_ymany, the drone struck a house rented by Al Qaeda leaders who “came from Shabwa to reinforce the forces of Khain Hadi” without mentioning how many casualties resulted from the attack. Ali Al Nasi added that the house was rented two months ago by unknown people “believed to be coming from Shawba”.

A tweet a day after the incident by @mosher511 identified two Al Qaeda members who were killed but it is unknown if they were killed in the same incident. The two fighters were Rawha Al-Qaifi who was affiliated with Al-Bayda and  Islam Al-Tazir who was a member of the Malahem Network.

The incident occured around dawn.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention Al Awshan (آل عوشان), for which the generic coordinates are: 15.56779, 45.47923. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–2

Sources (6) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

  • two Al Qaeda members who were killed but it is unknown if they were killed in the same incident. The two fighters were Rawha Al-Qaifi who was affiliated with Al-Bayda and  Islam Al-Tazir who was a member of the Malahem Network. (Image posted by @mosher511)

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    1–2

Sources (6) [ collapse]