Library image of an armed Reaper drone, December 2019 (US Air Force/ Senior Sergeant Haley Stevens)
AFRICOM publicly reported the first of four strikes on the same area on the same day – asserting that it had killed eight al Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Gandarshe. The tweet was issued shortly after noon GMT, indicating that the attack was earlier that morning. Two days later AFRICOM revealed that it had
The US military carried out an airstrike in Jilib, Middle Juba region, according to a press release issued the following day by US Africa Command. AFRICOM asserted that one terrorist was killed in the strike, and that it currently assessed that no civilians were harmed in the action. For the first time and in the
The US military conducted a fresh airstrike on so-called Islamic State in Somaliland, reporting the next day that they had killed one senior member of the terrorist group in the Golis Mountains region. “At this time, it is assessed the airstrike killed one (1) terrorist who played a key role in facilitation for the group,
US Africa Command reported that the day previously, it had “conducted two airstrikes targeting al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Baqdaad, Somalia, on January 7, 2019.” AFRICOM stated that “At this time we assess no civilians were injured or killed in these airstrikes.” According to AFRICOM “four militants” were killed in the strikes. AFRICOM added
The US reported two days after the event that it had conducted two “self-defence strikes” on September 5th against al Shabaab, killing four militants in total. According to an AFRICOM press release, the strikes hit near Tortoroow and were conducted in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia after a Somali-led counter-terrorism operation came under
In an event not publicly disclosed at the time, US Africa Command conducted a strike in the vicinity of Jilib on February 3rd, which it later said “did not result in any terrorist deaths, injuries or damage to equipment and infrastructure. Nor did we assess any civilians were killed or injured.” The strike came to
A US airstrike targeted Al Shabaab fighters near Saakow. The AFRICOM press release said: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted one (1) airstrike targeting an al-Shabaab compound in the vicinity of Saakow, Somalia, Dec. 24. The initial assessment concluded the strike damaged the compound and several al-Shabaab fighters fled,
At least 17 militants were killed by US AFRICOM declared airstrikes approximately 285 kilometers northeast, possibly in Basra, Balad district and/or in Ceel Gorof (Galmudug) on November 9, 2022. AFRICOM released a statement two days after the incident, November 11th, that “Somali National Army forces were engaged with al Shabaab fighters in a remote area
43 al-Shabaab militants were killed by alleged US airstrikes near Jamaane District in Lower Jubba on June 16, 2023. Garowe Online reported that airstrike carried out by the US struck a location where al-Shabaab militants were holding a meeting in Jamaane District in Lower Jubba, killing “several” militants. @SONNALIVE specified that the airstrikes occurred around
On the 23rd of February, 2024, the Somali National Army (SNA), supported by international partners, reportedly conducted a night-time military operation against Al-Shabaab in the Farah-Adan and Jawle areas of Harardhere district in Mudug region, central Somalia. It was reported that several Al-Shabaab leaders were killed in the attack, however the exact number of Al-Shabaab
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;
Somali news outlet Mareeg reported a suspected drone strike on an al Shabaab controlled village. Mareeg reported an eyewitness as saying: “We heard several bomb explosion caused by drone airstrikes in Hawina village.” He added: “It is not clear how many people have been killed or wounded it is very difficult to know the real
AFRICOM reported on the same day that it had “conducted an airstrike in Somalia against an al-Shabaab camp on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at approximately 10:30 a.m. local Somalia time”. It added that “the operation occurred 125 miles northwest of the capital, Mogadishu” though AFRICOM made no mention of civilian harm. However, it claimed that the
US forces carried out a strike on August 21st, killing two al Shabaab fighters, according to a press release from US Africa Command. The strike hit approximately 46 kilometers northeast of Kismayo, a port city in southern Somalia. The Command said it had assessed that no civilians were killed or injured in this strike. US
US Africa Command reported that it had conducted an airstrike “in the vicinity of Gandarshe, Lower Shebelle Region, Somalia, on February 3, 2019”. AFRICOM added that “at this time, it was assessed no civilians were injured or killed in either airstrike.” It did not specify whether any belligerent forces had been killed or injured. According to
The US military carried out an airstrike near Baled Amin in the Lower Shabelle region, according to a press release issued 48 hours later by US Africa Command. The strike killed two al Shabaab fighters according to AFRICOM, which also asserted that it currently determined that no civilians had been harmed in the attack. “Al-Shabaab
Local reporters alleged that US and Somali forces had killed four civilians including a mother and child, during an operation in Leego. Caasimada alleged that the civilians were killed around midnight, by Somali troops accompanied by ‘white US officers’, and claimed that the attacking forces had flown there from a military base to the north.
According to Voice of America correspondent Harun Maruf, two airstrikes by an unknown party struck al Shabaab targets in southern Somalia. According to Maruf’s initial tweet, “A strike in Jamame area reportedly hit a graduation ceremony of new recruits for Jaysh Ayman, the Al-Shabaab unit that operates in Kenya.” The other strike allegedly targeted Buaale.
US Africa Command reported an airstrike in the vicinity of Beer Xaani on February 4th which it said had killed one terrorist. The attack came a day after Somali troops in the town had come under attack from al Shabaab. According to AFRICOM’s release: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command
One Al Shabaab member was allegedly killed by an alleged US airstrike on Salagle. Somaliweyn reported: “The shelling occurred in Jilib, Sakow, Bu’ale, and Salagle districts of the Juba regions, with the shelling targeting al-Shabaab bases in those districts.” It added: “The Salagle area has reportedly targeted a senior al-Shabaab security official whose name has
Several Al Shabaab members were allegedly killed by a US airstrike on Jamaame. The Horn Observer said: “Two mid level al-Shabaab officials are among several killed after a suspected U.S airstrikes targeted the group’s strongholds in Jamame and in Haway in the country’s southern regions of Lower Jubba and Lower Shabelle on Monday. According to
Several Al Shabaab militants were reported killed at Salagle in a military strike which two local sources claimed was a US drone action. However AFRICOM explicitly denied this in an email to Airwars, insisting that “U.S. Africa Command’s last airstrike in Somalia was conducted Jan. 19, 2021.” Intelligence Briefs said: “A number of Al-Shabaab operatives
Between two and 47 alleged al-Shabaab militants were killed by declared US airstrikes or drone strikes near Xaradheere, Somalia approximately 396 km northeast of Mogadishu on January 23, 2023. There are no known reports of civilian casualties. US AFRICOM released a statement that “at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia and in support of
Mepa News reported that according to local sources, US airstrikes on the Buk Akable settlement resulted in the death of three civilians, including women and children, and the injury of seven others. The source stated that Somalia government media was claiming that those killed were members of al-Shabaab and that AFRICOM has not released a
A US strike targeted an al Shabaab base in Balad Amin in southern Somalia, killing between five and 10 of the group’s fighters. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported at the time that the US confirmed it carried out an airstrike “at approximately 4pm Eastern Time” – 1am November 22 local time – in defence
On November 17th 2017, US Africa Command sent the Bureau of Investigative Journalism a list of previously unreported strikes, which included this one. No casualties were reported. An AFRICOM spokesperson explained that their goal “is to be as transparent as possible while taking into account operational security, force protection and diplomatic sensitivities.” It therefore did
AFRICOM reported that two days previously it had “conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants on Feb. 19, in the vicinity of Jilib, Somalia”. It added: “We assess no civilians were killed in this strike.” However, AFRICOM claimed that the attack had killed “three (3) terrorists.” Voice of America said that “Local residents in the region reported
AFRICOM reported that the previous day it had “conducted two (2) airstrikes in the vicinity of Debatscile, Somalia targeting al-Shabaab militants on November 19, 2018”. This entry records the first of of these events. AFRICOM asserted that “We currently assess these airstrikes did not injure or kill any civilians.” It also claimed that “the first
The Pentagon carried out a February 28th airstrike in Somalia that killed 26 terrorists in the vicinity of Hiran, according to a press release from US Africa Command issued the following day. The attack marked the third US action in four days in the same area. US Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Hadfield, US Africa Command
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