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
AFRICOM reported on the same day that it had “conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants approximately 30 miles southwest of Mogadishu, Somalia, on May 31”. It added: “We currently assess no civilians were injured or killed in this airstrike.” However, AFRICOM claimed that the airstrike killed “twelve (12) terrorists”. In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by
A total of 11 al Shabaab militants were killed as US forces conducted two airstrikes in the vicinity of Beled Amin South on December 19th, a US Africa Command press release claimed. According to AFRICOM, no civilians were harmed. The first strike referenced here killed eight militants and the second strike killed three militants, the
The US military carried out an airstrike against ISIS-Somalia in the vicinity of Xiriiro, Bari Region, killing one high value militant and at least one other alleged fighter. According to AFRICOM – which took the unusual step of publicly naming the target within 24 hours of the operation – the strike killed Abdulhakim Dhuqub, second
Three or four alleged militants were killed and two civilians were injured in an alleged US military attack on a house. Two missiles were fired at a house in Kateera village in Khushal Torikhel area, however according to the Daily Times, it was not confirmed whether the militants killed were locals or foreign nationals. Local
Up to four alleged AQAP militants, including a leadership figure, were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in Zamakh and Manakh, in the Al Abr district of Hadramout governorate, between the evening of March 4th-5th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. Late on March 5th, local language sources including @SkyNewsArabia_B
Local reports claimed that a pair of airstrikes by unknown international powers – presumably either the United States or Kenya – had targeted al Shabaab fighters in the towns of Jamaame and Buaale. According to Radio Kulmiye, “Another airstrikes were reported [on October 25th] from Middle Juba region, highly controlled by Al-Shabaab. Witnesses said that
During several days of fighting in Middle Juba, US forces conducted an airstrike on January 26th which targeted “an al-Shabaab compound in the vicinity of Jamaame,” according to US Africa Command officials. AFRICOM initially reported the event on February 3rd in a press release though offered no precise date, noting that “In coordination with the Federal
On March 6th, the US Department of Defense announced that alleged AQAP militant, Harith al Waqri, had been killed on March 3rd by a US airstrike. According to Pentagon spokesman US Navy Captain Jeff Davis, al Waqri was a fighter and “communications intermediary” for Usayd al Adani, who was also announced to have been killed
A reported airstrike targeted alleged AQAP militants to the west of Ahwar town, Abyan governorate, on April 1st 2017. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. Some sources reported that the strike came alongside an additional two actions on a farm to the east of Ahwar (USYEMTr063), indicating that the strike took place
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
News agency Xinhua reported that according to a local security official, a US drone strike had killed four alleged AQAP militants in Al Abr, in Hadhramout governorate, on March 6th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. A second source, Mosnad News, published on March 6th, also reported that a US strike
One local language social media source, @GawadSalah, claimed, on September 15th 2019, that six Emiratis were killed in an alleged AQAP camp in Shabwa by a US drone strike. The source seemed to refer to six Emirati soldiers reported, on September 14th 2019, to have been killed in a road “collision” in southern Yemen. Other
A US drone strike killed two suspected AQAP militants in southern Yemen late on June 30th 2017, residents and local sources told Reuters. No other known sources reported a strike at that time, and there were no associated reports of civilian harm. According to Reuters, “Another suspected U.S. drone strike killed two men believed to
A US airstrike allegedly killed one Al Shabaab fighter near Buulo Fulaay. The AFRICOM press release said: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command forces conducted one airstrike in the vicinity of Buulo Fulaay, Somalia Jan. 13, 2021. Initial assessments indicate the strike killed one al-Shabaab personnel and destroyed one compound.
One child was reportedly killed and three other civilians, including women and children, were wounded in US airstrikes on the Al Qa’em area near the Syrian-Iraqi borders on June 28, 2021. Local sources also reported that between four and 11 militants, with at least four members of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization, were also killed. The
Up to 10 civilians, including a child, were killed and up to 20 others were injured in alleged Somali and/or US airstrikes or drone strikes on the village of Mubarak on September 9, 2022. Sources are conflicted as to whether one of the people, Abdullahi Sheikh Abukar known locally as ‘Arab” was a member of
A Yemeni journalist was reportedly injured in an alleged drone strike while fleeing the site of attacks on an Al Qaeda vehicle on the 1st of June 2012 in Shabwa. Only one source, @narrabyee, reported this incident and further information remains unknown. The drone strike could have been a US or Yemeni strike as similar
Two civilians were injured by an alleged US-UK strike on the Sofan neighborhood of Sana’a on February 24, 2024. Abdullah Ahmad Obaidi Al Rabi’i posted on Facebook that “on my way back home in the Sofan neighborhood, I encountered this missile strike by the American-British aggression occurring dozens of meters away in a densely populated
Alleged Al Qaeda local commander Abdullah Mehdar, suspected leader of the Al Qaeda cell in the Houta region, was reportedly killed by Yemen security forces, possibly with the assistance of US forces, on the evening of 12th January 2010 in Shabwa province, 375 miles east of Sana’a. There were no known associated reports of civilian
According to local Yemen officials, three areas in Zinjibar were struck by alleged US drone strikes or Yemeni military strikes, killing 29 to 30 Al Qaeda fighters and wounding dozens others on March 22, 2012. The website Arab Monitor stated that “dozens” were wounded in the attacks, which targeted alleged Al Qaeda bases. No other
Alleged US drone strikes killed up to 12 Al Qaeda militants in a compound used for communications and meetings in the eastern part of the al-Mahfad area located in Abyan Province the evening of the 1st of June 2012. There are currently no reports of civilian harm. Albashayer and CNN cited the lowest death toll
On January 19th 2013, between 7 and 10:30 pm, the first of three alleged US drone strikes in the Wadi Abidah region in al-Hatik in Marib struck an orange farm in the populated Al-Masil area in Al Dsaleel, Ra’ed Fadi Abdullah. There were no reported casualties, civilian or militant but according to eyewitnesses, the strike
Four alleged belligerents were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in Al Quraishyah, in Bayda governorate, on February 24th 2018. Two sources suggested that three of those killed were AQAP militants, and one of which indicated that the fourth victim was a commander in the Hadi military. There were no known reports of civilian
According to several sources, a US drone strike targeted alleged AQAP militants in or near Azzan, in Shabwa governorate, overnight from July 9th-10th 2017. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. Multiple sources reported that an unnamed AQAP leader was killed in the strike, which some suggested targeted a car, killing all inside.
In the first confirmed US kinetic operation since President Trump designated Somalia an active war zone in March 2017, one US Navy serviceman was killed and two or three others injured during an operation against al Shabaab in Somalia on May 5th (local time), the first declared American service member death in combat in the
In a US strike in Mubaraak, two al Shabaab militants were killed along with a combatant with US partner forces, a US statement asserted the following day. Members of al Shabaab and the partner forces were also left wounded. US forces carried out a strike during a Somali partner forces-led operation against al Shabaab in
US Africa Command reported that two days previously, it had carried out an airstrike “in the vicinity of Gandarshe, Lower Shebelle Region, Somalia, on February 6, 2019.” AFRICOM reported that it “currently assesses the airstrike on February 6 killed 11 militants.” It added that “at this time, it was assessed no civilians were injured or
The US military carried out a fresh airstrike targeting al Shabaab (rather than ISIS) in the Golis Mountains, according to a press release issued by US Africa Command. The strike killed three al Shabaab fighters, AFRICOM asserted – saying that it currently assessed that no civilians had been harmed in the attack. This marked the
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 a single source, an airstrike by an unknown party hit the strategic village of Basra in Middle Shebelle. Goobjoog News stated that “Reports indicate that Airstrikes hit last night at Basra village in the Middle Shabelle Somalia. Residents of Basra village told Goobjoog News there were heavy attacks in the village amid reports