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
Four alleged AQAP militants, including a leadership figure, were reportedly killed by a US drone strike against a car in Wadi Al Maroun, in the Khabr, Al Maraqisha area of Abyan governorate, on the morning of September 9th 2018. A US strike against AQAP in Abyan on that date was confirmed in a later US
US forces carried out a strike on August 27th killing three alleged members of al Shabaab, US Africa Command declared two days later, The strike hit approximately 40 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. The official statement read: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants approximately 40 kilometers
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
An investigation by journalist Amanda Sperber identified a possible US airstrike near Basra around the time of Eid in August 2018, which allegedly killed between 10 and 12 members of the same family. Airwars has provided a relatively wide date range for this event, based on limited reporting. The investigation, published by The Nation in
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
In a major Amnesty International report on civilian harm in Somalia, published in March 2019, the NGO made passing reference to a civilian harm event on August 14th the previous year in the vicinity of Baladul-Rahma and Geeshaan, near Basraa. According to the report, “on 14 August 2018, the US military conducted additional air strikes
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.
Three civilians were reportedly killed in a US strike in Gobanle village, according to Amnesty International – though US Africa Command claimed that only four “terrorists” were killed. However an AFRICOM declassified assessment of the event published in July 2019 indicated that the US itself was unaware of the identities of those in the vehicle
A US drone strike reportedly targeted a house in the Al Rawda area of Marib governorate on August 1st 2018, killing four and wounding others. One source, The Yemen, indicating that those killed were civilians: “Today, Wednesday, local sources said that four civilians were killed and others wounded, following a US air strike on a
A US airstrike targeted AQAP in Hadhramout governorate on July 24th 2018, according to US Central Command. There were no known associated reports of a strike in Hadhramout on that day. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism noted in its original summary of this event that “US Central Command said it conducted strikes on July 22
US forces carried out a strike against al Shabaab in an area around 50 kilometres north of Kismayo, a US Africa Command spokesperson later told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Post-strike analysis had not revealed the number of militants killed, a US spokesperson told the Bureau in an email exchange on July 31st. The event
Unknown aircraft were reported to have struck the vicinity of Qalimow village about 60km north of Mogadishu on the night of July 24th-25th. Villagers told local media that several missiles had targeted Al-Shabab vehicles. The attack – which almost all sources said was by drone – followed the recent recapture of Qalimow from Somalia forces.
A strike reportedly hit a village outside Marka, a city around 60 miles south of Mogadishu, according to a field investigation by a reporter for The Nation. There were no reports of immediate civilian harm, though a man reportedly died of a heart attack following the violence. Airwars has placed this event in a date
A US airstrike targeted AQAP in Hadhramout governorate on July 22nd 2018, according to US Central Command. There are no known public reports of a strike in Hadhramout on this date, though multiple sources indicated that there was a US drone strike in Marib (USYEMTr174-C) that killed at least three AQAP fighters. The Bureau of
At least three alleged AQAP militants were reportedly killed, and another injured, by a US drone strike against a house in Al Rawda, Marib governorate, on the evening of July 22nd 2018. A few social media sources at the time suggested that the strike had instead killed civilians. A later US Central Command statement indicated
An airstrike near the village of Jawaari was variously blamed on US and Kenyan forces. Mareeg, a Somali news outlet, reported a strike by unidentified jets which it said had potentially killed eight members of al Shabaab. The terror group itself reportedly denied that any of its fighters were killed. The source of Mareeg’s information
Up to seven alleged AQAP militants were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in the Baihan district of Shabwa governorate, on July 6th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. A security official told AFP that a US drone had targeted a car driving along a side road in the area,
A single source, Al-Masdar Online, suggested that a US drone strike had targeted alleged AQAP militants in Merkhat, in Shabwa governorate, on the evening of July 4th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. “The source told Al-Masdar Online that the air strike targeted the militants in the Merkhat area last Wednesday
A US airstrike targeted AQAP in either Shabwah, Hadramawt or Al-Bayda governorate on June 30th 2018, according to CENTCOM. There were no known public reports of a strike on that date. According to the Yemen monitor New America: “On July 3rd, CENTCOM confirmed in an email to New America that it conducted two air strikes
A US drone strike targeted alleged AQAP militants in Bi’ir Shoudqa, Wadi Obeida area of Marib governorate, on June 28th 2018, a single source (@huodhoud) claimed. At around the same time, Yemeni sources began reporting that an alleged AQAP jurist, Abu Bihr Mohammed Darama, was killed by a US drone strike. It is unlikely Darama’s
A US strike targeted AQAP in either Shabwah, Hadramawt or Al Bayda governorate on June 23rd 2018, according to CENTCOM. There are no known public reports of a US action on June 23rd. As Yemen monitor New America first noted: “On July 3rd, CENTCOM confirmed in an email to New America that it conducted two
An American Special Forces soldier was killed – later named as Staff Sergeant Alexander Conrad – and four others were wounded in an attack by al Shabaab fighters in Jubaland. A member of a partner force was also killed or injured. The US soldiers were among a large force of 800 Somali and Kenyan soldiers
AFRICOM reported that it conducted a precision strike on ISIS near Bani Walid. While the US itself said that 4 members of the organisation were killed in the attack, including senior member Abdul-Ati Eshtewi, on a vehicle, local sources reported that three of the people in the car were actually civilians. Alrseefa reported: “Reconciliation in Tripoli
US Africa Command told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) in July 2018 that it had carried out two strikes in early June – one previously undisclosed. The second took place on June 3rd, and targeted members of al Shabaab approximately 24 miles southwest of Bosasso, according to AFRICOM. “We currently assess no terrorists and
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
A suspected airstrike in a field outside Bariire, a village 30 miles west of Mogadishu, killed three boys and left one woman injured, according to The National. Journalist Amanda Sperber met Halimo Mohamed Abdi, a herder who was injured in the action: “The blast broke both her hips, left shrapnel embedded in her thigh, and
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 civilian, who most sources reported to be a 17-year old child, was reportedly killed by a US drone strike in Wadi Khora area in Shabwa, before sunset on May 25th 2018. In a later press release, US Central Command stated that a strike had been conducted on that day, citing three possible provinces. Since
A late night US strike on the village of Arbiska was reported by Radio Shabelle. According to the local news outlet, “Suspected American fighter jets were reported to have carried out an overnight airstrike in Lower Shabelle region, targeting Al-Shabaab bases, residents said. The strike happened on the outskirt of Arbiska village, located near the capital,
Three possible AQAP militants were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in the Rumaila area, in the Marib district of Marib governorate, at around 7:30pm on May 15th 2018. Sadam Al-Adwar, a human rights activist, tweeted that the strike had targeted a motorcycle in the area: “At 7:30pm, today is a drone strike targeting