Library image of an armed Reaper drone, December 2019 (US Air Force/ Senior Sergeant Haley Stevens)
An airstrike reportedly killed up to two civilians in O’wdhille, a village about 55 miles south of Mogadishu, according to findings from a field investigation by The Nation. Reporter Amanda Sperber detailed the account of Osman [not his real name] whose relatives were reportedly killed in the strike: “Around 5 pm in early July 2017, Osman
A father and young child were reported killed in a US airstrike on the al Shabaab-occupied town of Kunyo Barrow. AFRICOM later admitted the deaths of two civilians along with three injuries in the event in its first quarterly civilian harm report of April 2020. US Africa Command first reported on February 24th 2019 that
In the first known lethal drone strike in Somalia, Predators struck a militant training camp 10km south of Kismayo. Further missiles reportedly hit a second target near the airport. At least one member of Al-Shabaab was killed – possibly “many” – and up to three were wounded, according to local and international media. There were
The Pentagon announced four airstrikes on February 23rd in a press release issued by US Africa Command. One of these airstrikes occurred in Awdeegle, 50 kilometres west of Mogadishu. The press release read: “These four airstrikes eliminated checkpoints and facilities used by al-Shabaab to collect illegal taxes to fund terrorist activities and to oppress the innocent
A US drone strike on September 28th killed at least ten members of a local friendly militia and not al Shabaab militants as the US had initially believed, according to local communities and an investigation by the Washington Post. Between three and 16 additional members of the Galmadug militia were injured. At least one source,
A US airstrike targeted alleged al Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Dacaraha village, 50 km west of Mogadishu, a local source reported. Publicly AFRICOM said it had conducted two strikes near Kunyo Barrow that day, with others at Janaale and Awdhegle. The other Kunyo barrow strike – which hit the town itself – reportedly
In this single-source allegation, an unknown number of people were reportedly killed or wounded in possible US strikes in Afmadow district, as reported by Somalia Report. The source did not mention whether the victims were combatants or civilians. According to Somalia Report, US drones or planes reportedly hit three al Shabaab militant training camps in
Up to five people, including two reported civilians, were killed in a US military airstrike that hit in the vicinity of Jamaame, in Somalia’s Lower Juba region, international media reported. According to a US Africa Command press release, a US strike on al Shabaab killed four members of the group. VOA reporter Khadar Hared tweeted that
Up to six people, including at least one possible civilian, were killed and at least two possible civilians were wounded, as a US-launched raid targeted and reportedly killed a high value al Qaeda/ al Shabab member, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, international media reported. The attack marked the first known lethal operation by US forces in
One civilian man was possibly killed as a US drone struck and killed up to seven members of al-Shabaab at Kilometre 60 or K60, in Lower Shabelle, 60km south west of Mogadishu on the road to Marka/ Mercer, international media reported. The action came hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had told a
One civilian was reportedly killed and another injured in a confirmed US airstrike in Baladul Rahma near Basra, Somalia according to a field investigation by Amnesty International – though US Africa Command continues to deny that any civilians were harmed. In a press release from AFRICOM issued at the time, it had said it carried
A ground operation struck a minibus carrying civilians, killing one woman and injuring up to six others, local media reported. While one source claimed that the attack was conducted by drone, others said it was a ground operation, involving Somali and possibly also US troops. AFRICOM later denied responsibility for civilian harm on the grounds
A statement from the Pentagon said an airstrike in south-central Somalia had targeted Abdullahi Haji Daud – but initially did not confirm whether Daud had been killed. However on June 8th, Africom announced a “final assessment” which concluded “Daud was struck and killed in the airstrike”. There are currently no reports of civilian harm. It
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
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
According to local sources, an airstrike by an unknown party targeted a ‘foreign al Shabaab commander’ close to midnight on May 8th 2019. According to Horn Globe, “United States military has carried out at least two air strikes targeting al-Shabaab militant group’s bases in Jilib and Jamame town on Wednesday night, locals sources said. The first
US Africa Command declared on the same day that it had conducted an airstrike on al Shabaab in the vicinity of Jilib, which it said had killed one militant. It was later claimed that a 20-year old farmer named Mohamed Moalim was killed in the strike, with the location given as Hoombooy – although in
Two civilians were killed in a US strike near Buulo Fuulay, according to a pro Al Shabaab outlet. Somali Memo wrote: “More details about the bombings of US warplanes hit the Bay region in southern Somalia on Wednesday night. Drones bombed a scooter with two civilians Saturday night, the killed were forced out of Buhodle
A US airstrike targeted an Al Shabaab member in Jilib, AFRICOM confirmed via email to Airwars. The response reads: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted one airstrike in Jilib, Somalia on Oct. 18 targeting one al-Shabaab terrorist. The command’s initial assessment concluded this airstrike yielded no death or injuries
One high ranking al-Shabaab leader was killed by declared US and Somali airstrikes near Haramka in Middle Juba on October 1, 2022. Local sources also reported that another man named Ibrahim Hassan Dahir was also killed but are conflicted as to his status as a militant or civilian. According to AFP, a top al-Shabaab leader
Somali state media reported that 167 al-Shabaab militants were killed by Somali airstrikes in collaboration with “international partners” near Harardhere town on September 2, 2023. al-Shabaab instead identified those killed as four inmates in a prison, adding that seven others were injured, while a local source attributed the airstrike to the US military. @HarunMaruf quoted
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
AFRICOM reported that the previous day it had “conducted two (2) airstrikes targeting al-Shabaab militants near Jilib, Middle Juba Region, Somalia, on January 23, 2019.” It also asserted that “at this time we assess no civilians were injured or killed in these airstrikes.” AFRICOM gave no figures on the number of belligerents killed. Associated Press
Local reports claimed that a pair of airstrikes by unknown intertnational 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 Octoberr 25th] from Middle Jubba region, highly controlled by Al-Shabaab. Witnesses said that
Three Al Shaabab fighters were injured in a US airstrike near Dujuuma, according to both the Somali government and AFRICOM. A US military press release issued the same day stated: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting an al-Shabaab compound in the vicinity of Dujuuma, Somalia, Feb.