Geolocation
Airwars assessment
More than 10 alleged al-Shabaab militants were killed by Somalia government forces and ‘international partners’ in the Burweyn area of Hiraan region on February 28, 2023.
A tweet from @HSNQ_NISA, the National Intelligence & Security Agency (NISA) of Somalia, announced that “more than” 10 [al-Shabaab members] including leaders were killed in an army operation by NISA with the help of international partners in the Burweyn area of Hiraan region.
@RashidMohamedK2 added that the high value target of the raid was Ibnu Bashir, a senior al-Shabaab member.
There were no other details available as to who was involved in the operation and the resulting casualties.
While no sources directly implicated the US in the operation, the Somali government’s reference to “international partners” has in the past indicated US involvement but could also refer to Turkish involvement.
The incident occured at approximately 4:00 pm local time.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Buurweyn, for which the generic coordinates are: 3.591953, 45.552965. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
Sources (5) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Statement from Somali government on operation carried out February 28th, 2023.