Mabkhout Ali al Ameri with his 18-month old son Mohammed, shortly after a botched US raid on al Ghayil in January 2017 had killed at least 20 villagers, including Mohammed's mother Fatim Saleh Mohsen. © Iona Craig
Three Al Shabaab fighters were allegedly killed in a US airstrike near Bush Madina. The AFRICOM press release said: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab terrorists in the vicinity of Bush Madina, Somalia, April 2. The command’s initial assessment concluded this airstrike killed three (3)
At least one drone strike, which one local-language Twitter source @A_GHALEB63, alleged to be American, reportedly targeted suspected AQAP militants in the Shibam district of Hadramout governorate, from November 3rd to November 4th 2018. No information was available on alleged casualties of the reported strikes. Local residents told Aden News that they heard an explosion
A US drone strike reportedly killed at least one alleged AQAP militant, possibly a key communications officer, in Al Hazma, in the Wadi Obeida area of Marib governorate, on May 13th 2020. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. According to academic Fatima Alasrar (@YemeniFatima), the strike targeted a house, injuring Abdullah Al-Maliki,
One senior Al Shabaab member was allegedly killed by US airstrike on Saakow. AFRICOM said in its press release: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting an al-Shabaab senior leader in the vicinity of Saakow, Somalia, on Aug. 25. The command’s initial assessment concluded this airstrike killed
Exactly six months after Joe Biden became president, the US conducted its first declared strike in Somalia of his administration, at either 10.21 or 11.05am on July 20th 2021. According to Morad News the attack took place in the Qay’ad area of Muldug, with Sonna state media reporting that the airstrike was conducted on a
At least two al-Shabaab militants were killed by a declared US airstrike near Buulobarde, Somalia on October 23, 2022. AFRICOM released a statement that “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab terrorists who were attacking Somali National Army forces near Buulobarde, Somalia, about 218 km north-northwest
On June 17th 2012, an alleged airstrike or shelling by the US military or Yemen Air Force caused the death of up to nine civilians in the town of Azzan, Shabwa province. There are currently no known reports of injured. The US news channel Fox News claimed that six Al Qaeda militants were killed in
At least two fishermen, including a 16-year old child, were killed and two others were injured by alleged US airstrikes or Houthi drone strikes off the coast of Al Mukha on February 29, 2024. A tweet from @aalnaasi reported that US aircraft carried out two raids on a Yemeni fishing boat that was sailing near
On Aug. 24, 2011, numerous outlets such as the Associated Press, AFP, and CNN reported that between four and six suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed and others were wounded in alleged Yemeni or US strikes in the area of Arkoub in Yemen’s Abyan province, which was overrun by Al Qaeda in May 2011. There
Three suspected militants were killed in an alleged American drone strike in the town of Mudiyah during the afternoon of the 26th of April, 2012. Both Reuters and Mareb Press reported that the three militants were killed as the vehicle in which they were travelling was struck by a missile. Reuters further reported that local
On 4th August 2012, in the late evening, between three to five militants were killed in an alleged U.S. drone strike on a vehicle travelling on the Ghisas road, north of the village of Al-Qatan in Hadramout province. Local news sources such as Mareb Press and Saba News also reported that up to two additional
A US drone strike reportedly killed at least four alleged AQAP militants in Raghwan district, Marib governorate, on October 8th 2017. The strike was later confirmed by a US Central Command spokesperson in an email to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which stated that five AQAP militants were killed by a strike in the area
A US airstrike targeted AQAP in Bayda governorate on August 14th, according to CNN National Security reporter Ryan Browne (@rabrowne75). On August 30th, US Central Command stated that “six counterterrorism air strikes” against AQAP had been conducted since May 16th 2018, in “Shabwah, Hadramawt and Al-Bayda governorates”. The declared strike dates included August 14th. There
A US drone strike reportedly killed Abu Ubaidah, leader of al Shabaab, as well as four other fighters. The US told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “We are aware of the media reports but have no information on the incident.” However two named Somali officials asserted that it was a drone attack. Ubaidah replaced Ahmed Abdi
The US carried out two “kinetic” strikes against al Shabaab members in the Banadir region of southern Somalia on August 10th, US Africa Command announced. There were no known associated public reports of civilian harm. As AFRICOM itself has treated these as distinct events, we have separated them here. A press release from the Somali
AFRICOM said that it had carried out a strike on “al Shabaab fighters in the vicinity of Kamsuuma” on March 12th. It made no mention of civilian harm. The US had already carried out ten strikes since the start of the year, a US Africa Command spokesperson confirmed to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ)
AFRICOM reported that the previous day it had “conducted two (2) airstrikes in the vicinity of Haradere, Somalia on November 21, 2018.” It added: “We currently assess these airstrikes did not injure or kill any civilians.” However, AFRICOM claimed that “the first airstrike killed six (6) al-Shabaab militants and the second airstrike destroyed a weapons cache.”
According to local reports a US airstrike, carried out as part of a land and air operation, was conducted in the Gambole area killing up to eight alleged Al-Shabaab fighters on March 8th. Two civilians were also reportedly killed in the strike and four more injured, Voice of America said. According to Mareeg: “U.S. forces
Local residents said jets bombed an al Shabaab camp near El Adde in Gedo region late at night on Sunday July 24. The attack hit the same area that 100 Kenyan peacekeepers were killed in January 2016 when al Shabaab forces overran their base. It was attributed to the Kenyan Defence Force with the Pentagon
Three alleged AQAP militants were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in Sama’a directorate, Bayda governorate, on the evening of January 9th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. Several Twitter and local-language news sources reported the strike, including Al-Masdar Online, @demolinari, and Al-Arabi. A tribal leader told Anatolia Agency that
According to local sources, an airstrike by an unknown party targeted a ‘foreign al Shabaab commander’ around dawn on May 9th 2019. According to Horn Globe, “A second huge blast was heard in Jamame town, around dawn. The target of the second air attack was al-Shabaab commander in charge of planning operations, a Somali intelligence officer
A US airstrike reportedly killed three alleged AQAP militants, “including a leader”, in the Al Haraj area of Jardan district, in Shabwa governorate, according to various sources. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. Critical Threats, for example, asserted that “A reported U.S. airstrike killed three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
Multiple sources reported that US airstrikes targeted alleged AQAP militants in Jabal Novan, Bayda governorate, overnight from March 1st to March 2nd, killing three. There were no known reports of civilian casualties. Local language sources suggested that strikes targeted an al-Qaeda “training centre” in the town of Jabal Novan, in the area of Qaifa. These
Two airstrikes were declared the same day by US Africa Command, in partnership with the Somali government, which were said to have targeted al Shabaab in the vicinity of Kunya Barrow. According to two pro Shabaab sources, at least one of the strikes targeted Kunya Barrow itself – alleging that a 70 year old woman
Between four and six civilians were allegedly killed by a US airstrike near Janaale. Morad News, reportedly close to Al Shabaab, tweeted: “US drone strike kills 4 civilians after bombing a minibus near Janaale town. 2 of the victims r members of a well known family in Mogadishu. An elderly man & driver are among
The US conducted a rare action against militant targets in Libya in September 2019, striking what it later said was “a terrorist facilitation and meeting location consisting of ISIS-Libya terrorist leadership and militants.” In April 2020, US Africa Command reported that no civilians were harmed in this action near Murzuq on September 19th, 2019 –
Several local language sources reported that a US drone strike targeted the house of Marib provincial governor, Sheikh Sultan Al Arada, at dawn on July 4th 2019. Others, including Yemeni government officials, instead asserted that the strike was conducted by Houthi militias with a ballistic missile. There were varying assessments of casualties resulting from the
A US drone strike reportedly killed one civilian in Yakla, in Bayda governorate, on December 22nd 2017, according to multiple local language sources. Tweets from news sources, including @7adramout_net, @yem_Breaking, and @yemenakhbar, suggested that the strike targeted the car of a Qat seller, killing him as he travelled through the area. No known sources suggested
A US airstrike targeted an Al Shabaab member in Jilib, AFRICOM confirmed via email to Airwars. The response reads: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted one airstrike in Jilib, Somalia on Oct. 18 targeting one al-Shabaab terrorist. The command’s initial assessment concluded this airstrike yielded no death or injuries
Up to thirteen civilians, including six children and four women, were reported killed and at least one child was injured after US forces targeted and subsequently killed the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS), Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, in Atma, northwest Syria on February 3rd 2022. Local reporting was conflicted as to whether the casualties