Library image of an armed Reaper drone, December 2019 (US Air Force/ Senior Sergeant Haley Stevens)
Up to eight civilians were reportedly killed as the US carried out an airstrike against al Qaeda leaders in Ras Kamboni, Lower Juba, international and local sources reported. Shortly after Ethiopian forces had invaded Somalia in late December 2006, the US carried out its first known combat operation within Somalia since the September 11 2001
According to international and local reports, up to 31 civilians, including at least one child, were killed as the town of Hayi or Xayo was subjected to either US or Ethiopian-waged airstrikes. Heavy civilian casualties were reported in airstrikes on Hayi near Afmadow, 250km northwest of Ras Kamboni, and other parts of southern Somalia, in
Several people, possibly civilians, were left wounded as US airstrikes hit four towns near Ras Kamboni, including a terrorist training camp on Badmadow island, local and international media reported. Sources added that up to ten al Qaeda members were also killed. The strikes came just two days after the US-launched AC-130 attack in Ras Kamboni,
Up to eight people – some civilians – and one al Qaeda member, were killed as a US drone reportedly targeted, and later captured, a militant leader in Waldena. A fresh JSOC AC-130 strike in Somalia, reportedly operating from an airbase in eastern Ethiopia, targeted Ahmed Madobe, a deputy of ICU leader Hassan Turki. Madobe
The destroyer USS Chafee, sailing off the coast of Somalia, fired ‘more than a dozen rounds from its 5-inch gun’ on militants in Bargal, north Somalia. The New York Times also reported that cruise missiles were fired. Somali government spokesmen claimed the strikes were launched after around 35 heavily armed militants landed on the coast near
Up to six civilians were killed and as many as eight wounded as the US fired at least one and as many as three cruise missiles at Dhobley, a town in southern Somalia four miles from the Kenyan border, local and international sources reported. Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman told AFP: “On March 2, the US
At least five and as many as 30 civilians, including children and one woman, were reportedly killed as US-launched missiles targeted and killed several top al Shabab commanders in Dusa Marreb, a Somali village near the Ethiopian border, local and international sources reported. Around 3am local time on May 1st, 2008, US naval-launched cruise missiles
Up to six people, including at least one possible civilian, were killed and at least two possible civilians were wounded, as a US-launched raid targeted and reportedly killed a high value al Qaeda/ al Shabab member, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, international media reported. The attack marked the first known lethal operation by US forces in
At least one militant and as many as “three dozen” were killed in an alleged US-waged airstrike in Dhobley, Jubaland, international and regional media reported. The attack marked the beginning of a concerted campaign in Somalia against al Shabaab by the Obama administration. After a reporting gap of 18 months, US air attacks appear to
In the first known lethal drone strike in Somalia, Predators struck a militant training camp 10km south of Kismayo. Further missiles reportedly hit a second target near the airport. At least one member of Al-Shabaab was killed – possibly “many” – and up to three were wounded, according to local and international media. There were
In a news feature looking at drone strikes in Somalia, Somalia Report stated that on this day, “another [US] attack occurred in Taabta village in the Afmadow District of Lower Juba.” The report indicated that the target was al Shabaab. “AFRICOM does have terrorism in its list of applications and as of June JSOC’s hunter killers
In this single-source allegation, an unknown number of people were reportedly killed or wounded in possible US strikes in Afmadow district, as reported by Somalia Report. The source did not mention whether the victims were combatants or civilians. According to Somalia Report, US drones or planes reportedly hit three al Shabaab militant training camps in
A single source reported that nine civilians died in alleged US drone strikes on Kismayo. According to the source Antiwar.com, “Eyewitnesses in the southern Somali port city of Kismayo have reported a number of missile strikes, apparently fired by US drones in and around the city. Terrified residents say that several loud explosions were heard
The United States launched a series of drone attacks on al-Shabaab in Kismayo, according to residents, who reported strikes on three locations. The BBC reported that “At least three targets were hit around Kismayo, the southern port which is under the control of the militants. One reconnaissance drone is reported to have crashed… al-Shabaab are patrolling the
Four Somali farmers were reported to have been killed in a possible drone strike in Dolbiyow Village, 35km east of Dhobley according to Somalia Report, while one was reportedly injured. The farmers and their camels were killed moments after al-Shabaab fighters fled the area in vehicles, witnesses said. However, a TFG official told Somalia Report
In this single-source allegation, civilians were reported as possibly harmed following attacks on an al Shabaab base near Taabta village, Lower Juba, Somalia Report reported. It was not clear who was behind the actions. Somalia Report reported that drones had targeted an al-Shabaab base used to train new fighters. Its source cited TFG military official
In this single-source claim, Somalia Report reported that at least 11 civilians died and more than 20 others were wounded after a possible US drone attacked Afmadow town in Lower Juba region. An eye witness, Mohamud Abdirahman, told Somalia Report: “I have seen 11 bodies and we believe that it was a US airstrike.” Locals
At least one al Shabaab militant was reportedly killed as Shabaab positions in Kismayo, Jubaland, were subject to aerial shelling, international and local media reported. There was disagreement about whether the US, France or Kenya were to blame A local resident told Reuters: “A jet bombarded an al Shabaab base near the port. It dropped
Two al Shabaab leaders were possibly killed in an alleged US or French-launched air or drone strike in Afgoye, Lower Shabelle, local and international media reported. No sources reported civilian harm. Missiles were fired at a training camp in Afgoye, Lower Shabelle, according to al Shabaab. An initial report from the Suna Times stated: “US
A British al Shabaab fighter, Bilal al-Berjawi, was killed by a US drone strike in or near the town of Elasha Biyaha, 15km south of Mogadishu, local and international media reported. There were no reports of civilian harm. Three missiles fired from a drone operated by JSOC killed British-Lebanese militant Bilal al-Berjawi, also known as
In this single-source claim, six people were allegedly killed as an airstrike carried out by US or Kenyan forces, struck near the al Shabaab stronghold of Kismayo, Sheikh Mohamud Abdi, a senior al-Shabaab commander, claimed to Reuters. It is not known whether the strike was by US or Kenyan forces. Kenya sent troops into Somalia
One civilian man was possibly killed as a US drone struck and killed up to seven members of al-Shabaab at Kilometre 60 or K60, in Lower Shabelle, 60km south west of Mogadishu on the road to Marka/ Mercer, international media reported. The action came hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had told a
“Unknown military jets fired several missiles” at a suspected Somali pirate base in the northern autonomous region of Puntland a coastguard official told AFP. The target was the village of Gumah, described as being between Hafun and Bargal towns and some 220 kilometres (140 miles) east of Bossaso, the main port of Somalia’s breakaway Puntland
Air strikes ‘reportedly from international forces’ targeted ‘a mountainous area near town of Qandala’ according to Garowe Online. However All Africa said that “Air strikes reportedly from a US military aircraft or naval ship on the coastal town of Qandala caused damage to many buildings in the town.” All Africa and Garowe Online said it
French commandos failed to a rescue a French spy held hostage by al Shabaab since 2009. Paris claimed the militants executed the captured secret service agent, known by his alias Denis Allex, during an assault by 50 Special Forces troops. However al Shabaab’s media wing said the hostage survived. Seventeen alleged militants were reportedly killed
Two airstrikes by an unknown belligerent hit the nomadic settlement of Kol, near the city of Bulla-Xama, in southwestern Somalia’s Gedo region, killing a mother and her two children and injuring five others, a young man who fled the settlement following the strike told the Kenyan group Journalists for Justice. According to a report, Black
Drones and helicopters reportedly attacked outside the town of Jilib, in Somalia’s Middle Juba region, killing three people and seriously wounding seven, according to locals interviewed by the Kenyan group Journalists for Justice. Of the three people killed, two were women and one an elderly man, and of those wounded, three were reportedly children. As
At least one and as many as seven al Shabaab militants were killed in a naval raid carried out by US forces in Barawe, Lower Shabelle, international media reported. There were no reports of civilian harm. It was not at first clear who was the target of the raid. Reports varied from an unnamed Chechen;
At least two people, both reportedly al-Shabaab affiliated, were killed in a US drone strike on a vehicle in Jilib, Middle Juba region, international media reported. As of now, there are no reports about civilian harm. Senior al Shabaab commander Ibrahim Ali Abdi (aka Anta Anta) was killed in the attack, according to Abu Mohamed,
Five children from a single family were killed in the town of Jilib, in Somalia’s Middle Juba region, when their house was razed by aerial bombardment from an unknown belligerent (possibly Kenya), according to residents interviewed by the group Journalists for Justice. According to the report, “A third set of strikes took place a few