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
An ISIS leader and 10 of his associates were killed by a declared US counterterrorism operation in the Almiskad mountains of Bari region, Somalia on January 25, 2023. One US service member was injured during the operation when a dog bit him. AFRICOM initially released a statement that “the U.S. military conducted a successful counterterrorism operation
Between five and 100 militants were killed and several others were injured by declared US airstrikes and Somali ground operations near Hareeri Kalle in July 19, 2023. AFRICOM released a statement that “At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense airstrike in a remote area near Hareeri
A moving vehicle was struck by missiles that were fired near Lawdar town in the province of Abyan on the 14th of May 2012. Six “militants” perished in the strike which was allegedly carried out by a Yemeni or US aircraft. There are no reports of civilian harm at this moment. Officials reported anonymously to
In a dawn attack, a series of missiles from an alleged unmanned airstrike were fired at targets on the outskirts of Jaar, apparently striking Al Qaeda militants on the verge of launching a suicide attack on military targets. The alleged US drone or Yemeni airstrike attack hit a farmhouse in the Wadi Anna bridge area,
A US strike killed seven AQAP militants in Shabwa governorate on November 25th 2017, a US Central Command spokesperson told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. This confirmed earlier local reports that a US drone strike had killed at least three alleged AQAP militants in a Wadi, in the Merkhat Al Olya district of Shabwa, on
In a second reported strike in Jaar on May 27th 2012, a house allegedly used as a meeting place by AQAP militants was “pounded” by warplanes, reported Xinhua. Ten alleged AQAP fighters were killed including two local leaders according to a tribal chief. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm. Xinhua did not
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
The US conducted “a self-defence strike against al Shabaab, killing three” in southern Somalia, describing the action as having “provided defensive fires to protect U.S. troops from imminent threats posed by the terrorist group al-Shabaab.” A statement from US Africa Command (Africom) issued at the time said “the operation was conducted after it was assessed
AFRICOM reported on the same day it had “conducted an airstrike in Somalia against al-Shabaab on Thur., Nov. 9 at approximately 3 p.m. local Somalia time”. It added that the “operation occurred in the Bay Region of Somalia, about 100 miles west of the capital, Mogadishu”. AFRICOM made no mention of civilian harm. However, it stated that
On June 4th 2018, AFRICOM reported that it had “conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants approximately 26 miles southwest of Bosasso, Somalia, on June 2”. It added: “We currently assess no civilians were injured or killed in this airstrike.” However, AFRICOM claimed that the airstrike killed “twenty-seven (27) terrorists.” As Voice of America noted, “Saturday’s airstrike
AFRICOM reported on the same day that it had carried out an airstrike targeting al Shabaab in the vicinity of Dheerow Sanle in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia. According to AFRICOM “no civilians were injured or killed in this airstrike.” The strike “killed six (6) militants and destroyed one vehicle.” In a subsequent FOIA response
The US military carried out an airstrike targeting ISIS-Somalia and possibly also al Shabaab in the vicinity of Timirshe, in the Golis Mountains. According to a press release from US Africa Command issued the following day, three fighters from the terrorist group were killed, with AFRICOM currently assessing that no civilians had been harmed in
AFRICOM publicly reported two strikes on the same area on the same day – asserting that it had killed 28 al Shabaab militants in total in the vicinity of Gandarshe. Another four strikes took place at the same location the previous day on December 15th, it said – killing another 34 militants. “All six airstrikes
A US strike took place in Hadhramout governorate on March 13th 2018, a US Central Command spokesperson later told the Long War Journal. Two sources, @yemencurrent and @Dr_E_Kendall, reported at the time that a US drone strike had killed two alleged AQAP militants in Al Hudhi, in Hadhramout governorate, according to a pro-AQAP feed. The
Local media reported targeted strikes by an undeclared belligerent on the town of Bu’ale, which were said to have killed and injured senior named al Shabaab figures. According to Goobjoog News, “Reports indicate on the airstrike raid in Bay and Middle Juba region last night targeted Al Shabab base located in the area bulla falay
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
Multiple sources reported that, at dawn on March 4th 2017, one or more US strikes targeted alleged AQAP militants in the Said district, Shabwa governorate. Some reports indicated that the strikes killed or wounded AQAP members. According to several social media sources, a US drone strike targeted a car carrying suspected AQAP militants in the
A US drone strike reportedly targeted alleged AQAP militants travelling in a car near Al-Adwas, Hadramout governorate, likely overnight from April 2nd to April 3rd. There are no known associated reports of civilian harm. Several sources including YN News reported that AQAP militants were targeted, and one specified that they were targeted while in a
Several days after the events, US Africa Command press released that it had conducted five airstrikes in the vicinity of Janaale during March 16th-17th. Somali state media and government reported the same strikes but said they took place on March 15th-16th. AFRICOM said the actions were in support of ground operations by Somalia forces, while noting
Between one or two civilians were allegedly injured in US or Kenyan airstrike on Araboow. Halgan Media reported: “A series of blasts rocked a rural town of Araboow overnight in Somalia’s Middle Jubba province. The blasts said to be a result of a barrage of missiles fired down on the Militant controlled town. Sources that
A few local-language Twitter sources suggested, on December 7th 2019, that US drone strikes had targeted “Muslim Brotherhood” militias, also described as “terrorists”, in the mountains of Al Arqoub in Abyan governorate. No other known sources reported US strikes, and there was no known information on alleged casualties. The first known report of the strikes,
A US drone strike reportedly killed three alleged AQAP militants in the Sama’a area, Bayda governorate, on the afternoon of December 18th 2017, according to some sources. There were no known claims of associated civilian harm. The earliest known report of the alleged strike came at 5:44pm local time from 24Live (@20fourlive), which stated that
One civilian was allegedly killed in a US airstrike on Jamaame. Halgan Media said: “US drones just bombed the town of Jamaame in the Lower Jubba province of Somalia and killed a prominent Clan elder named Mohamed Abbas, who died instantly when a missile from a US drone hit his home – Sources.” Somali Memo,
At least one civilian, a child, was killed and four others, including two children, were injured in the alleged US drone strike or Yemeni airstrike that hit the Al-Farouq High School in Ja´ar Abyan Province on the 5th of September 2011. Wafaa Mohammed Ahmed al-Hamza (8 years old) was killed and her father Mohammed Ahmed
13 al-Shabaab militants were killed during operations allegedly carried out by the Somali National Army Danab Special Forces with the aid of the US Africa Command and the Jubbaland State Forces in Turdho village of Lower Jubba on March 3, 2022. Garowe Online reported that an operation carried out by the Danab Special Forces with the
An unknown number of Al-Shabaab members, including top leaders, were reportedly killed by airstrikes allegedly carried out by the US and/or Somali military on Elbur in Galgaduud province on September 23, 2023. There have been no reports of civilian casualties connected to the strikes. On the 23rd of September, 2023, the Somali Ministry of Defense
Over a six week period, US Special Forces carried out more than 24 ground raids in Yemen, according to a single credible source, The Nation. The Nation reported: “By late January 2010, JSOC had been involved with more than two dozen ground raids in Yemen, which kicked off with the December 17 strikes. Scores of
Up to eight members of Al Qaeda were reported killed in an alleged US drone strike on a moving vehicle in Shabwa province, on the desert road between Shabwa and Ma’rib governorates, on April 7/8, 2012. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm. The Wall Street Journal reported that the target was AQAP
Between 12 and 16 Al Qaeda fighters were killed in a suspected US or Yemeni airstrike or ground operation on Jaar, Abyan on June 11, 2012, local media reported. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm. Reuters cited a Yemeni military official who said that “the army launched its most serious assault on
A 2017 US counterterrorism operation in Yemen killed Ibrahim al Asiri, a “senior al-Qa’ida bomb maker and terrorist coordinator”, US President Donald Trump announced on October 10th 2019. This statement confirmed several 2018 reports that al Asiri had likely been killed in a US drone strike in Marib governorate during the second half of 2017.