Library image of an armed Reaper drone, December 2019 (US Air Force/ Senior Sergeant Haley Stevens)
A senior al Shabaab communications official was reported killed, either in an air or ground operation. The official was named by all sources as Ibrahim Abu Hamza, reportedly a head of communications for the terror group. However there was conflicted reporting about both how he died – and at whose hands. According to Mareeg News,
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 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
According to Somali official and media sources, an airstrike targeted a group of al Shabaab fighters in the vicinity of Ma’moodow town in Bakool province on January 29th. According to an official statement from the Security Ministry of South West State, the attack was conducted by “friends of Somalia.” Following requests for clarification, AFRICOM publicly
Four al-Shabaab militants were killed by declared AFRICOM strikes near Xaradheere on January 25, 2023. AFRICOM released a statement on January 30th that “At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia and in support of Somali National Army engagements against al-Shabaab, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense strike on Jan. 25, 2023. The strike
Two Cuban doctors, general medicine specialist Assel Herrera and surgeon Landy Rodriguez, were reportedly killed in a declared U.S. airstrike (possibly drone strike) conducted around 12:05am on the 15th of February 2024 in the town of Jilib, in the region of Middle Juba, Somalia. The militant group Al-Shabaab stated via Telegram that it had captured
US drones and jets reportedly killed between 150 and 200 alleged members of al Shabaab in a strike on a training camp in Somalia, 120 miles north of Mogadishu. There are currently no associated reports of civilian harm. The total killed could in fact be higher. The district governor for Buloburte told the BBC’s Somali
A US airstrike killed 12 al Shabaab militants and wounded another 15 members as Jamecco, Middle Shabelle was struck, AFRICOM reported. The US carried had carried out ten strikes since the start of the year, a US Africa Command spokesperson confirmed to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) at the start of April, which had
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.” This assessment details the strike on the arms cache. Associated Press offered more detail on the attacks: “Somali intelligence
The US conducted a confirmed airstrike on March 11th 2019 in the vicinity of Dara Salaam near Awdegle, Lower Shabelle Region, in “self-defense”. AFRICOM stated at the time that the airstrike – which it said killed eight al Shabaab militants – “was conducted in support of Somali-led ground forces that came under attack from militants”
AFRICOM publicly reported four strikes on the same area on the same day – asserting that it had killed 34 al Shabaab militants in total in the vicinity of Gandarshe. Another two strikes took place on December 16th, it said – killing another 28 militants. “All six airstrikes were conducted in close coordination with the
An adult woman was reported killed by an alleged US attack on Qoryole, according to the Turkish news organisation TRT – an event it dated to before midnight on February 23rd 2019. Despite conducting four strikes in the near region that day. AFRICOM later insisted that “no U.S. military strike took place at the alleged
In an event not publicly disclosed at the time, US Africa Command conducted a strike in the vicinity of Jilib on February 1st, 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 light, along
One Al Shabaab member was allegedly killed by a US airstrike near Kurtun Warey. AFRICOM said in its press release: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting one terrorist in the vicinity of Kurtun Warey, Somalia, Aug. 20. The terrorist, who has a history of working with
At least one civilian, a woman, was killed and up to seven other civilians, including five children, were injured alleged US drone strikes or Kenyan airstrikes on the town of Ceel-Cadde in the Gedo region on June 2-3, 2021. Halgan Media reported that suspected US drones or Kenyan fighter jets carried out strikes on a home
Two civilian women were killed and two children were injured by alleged Kenyan or United Arab Emirates or US airstrikes on Salagle in Middle Jubba on June 16, 2023. The Horn Observer reported that two civilians, a mother and her child, were killed and two other children sustained injuries from airstrikes on Salagle. A tweet
Two al Shabaab leaders were possibly killed in an alleged US or French-launched air or drone strike in Afgoye, Lower Shabelle, local and international media reported. No sources reported civilian harm. Missiles were fired at a training camp in Afgoye, Lower Shabelle, according to al Shabaab. An initial report from the Suna Times stated: “US
The US reported that it had conducted a “self-defense strike” against al Shabaab in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia in a press release published on September 7th. It said the strike hit near Gobanale and had resulted in the deaths of two al Shabaab militants. The press release reported that during a Somali-led
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
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 military carried out an airstrike in the vicinity of Tortoroow, according to a press release from US Africa Command issued the following day. AFRICOM asserted that three al Shabaab fighters were killed, and that it currently assessed that no civilians were harmed in the action. It further noted that the precision airstrike was
According to a Freedom of Information request obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, this previously unknown US strike took place in the vicinity of Shashweyne, Bandir region, Somalia against al-Shabaab fighters. In its FOIA response, AFRICOM again confirmed it had targeted what it says were “AS fighters”, in the vicinity of Shashweyne, Banadir
The US military carried out two separate airstrikes targeting al Shabaab in the vicinity of Jilib, Middle Juba, according to a press release from US Africa Command. According to AFRICOM, “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted two airstrikes targeting al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Jilib, Somalia, on June
US Africa Command declared on the same day that it had conducted an airstrike “in the vicinity of Jilib” which it said had killed “one (1) terrorist.” However local reports said that one young woman was killed and two or three other women injured in the event in Jilib town, which AFRICOM later acknowledged. According
Eight Al Shabaab militants were allegedly killed by three US strikes near Mubaraak. The AFRICOM press release said: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted three (3) airstrikes targeting al-Shabaab terrorists in the vicinity of Mubaraak, Somalia, Apr. 5. The command’s initial assessment concluded these airstrikes killed eight (8) terrorists.
Two US airstrikes reportedly killed between eight and ten Al Shabaab fighters near Jilib. Garowe reported: “Amid plans to withdraw from Somalia, the US Africa Command conducted two airstrikes on Thursday in the Horn of Africa nation, killing at least eight Al-Shabaab commanders linked to the manufacturing of explosives besides coordinating attacks in the country.”
Between eight and 200 al-Shabaab militants were killed by declared US airstrikes in support of Somali forces and/or Somali ground operations near the villages of Cadale, Mora-Erri, Garas Magan, and El Hareeri on November 3, 2022. AFRICOM released a statement two days later, on November 5th, that “In support of the Federal Government of Somalia’s
On the 26th of May, 2023, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against Al-Shabaab fighters in the vicinity of an ATMIS (African Union Transition Mission in Somalia) forward operating base in Bulo Marer, 75 miles southwest of Mogadishu, Somalia. To date, there have been no reports of civilian harm with regard to the airstrike, while a