A possible US drone or airstrike reportedly targeted alleged AQAP militants in Jabal Al Hawl, overlooking Wadi Amaqin, in the Rawda district of Shabwa, on the morning of April 26th 2020. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.

Local sources told Marib Today that the strike had targeted AQAP leaders, while 7adramout and @AdenHurra reported that smoke was seen rising from the targeted locations. According to Yaqeen, “local sources said that a drone believed to be American carried out, today, Sunday [April 26th], an air strike targeting leaders of al-Qaeda in the town of Amaqin in the Rawda district, without providing information about the results of the raid.”

Alleged images of the strike location appeared to confirm reporting by 4May that the aircraft had targeted an area of Jabal Amaqin, though that source did not attribute the attack to a particular party.

No known sources gave details on possible casualties.

US Central Command told Airwars that no US military strikes were conducted in Yemen during April 2020. It is, however, possible that an undeclared strike was conducted by the CIA, or as part of a clandestine US military action.

The incident occured in the morning.

A suspected US drone strike against a car killed two AQAP members in Baihan, Shabwa province on the morning of January 30th 2017, multiple sources reported.  There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.

According to news agencies, Yemeni officials suggested that a US drone had targeted the car in the Baihan region, on the border with Marib governorate.

A US military spokesperson, however, told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that CENTCOM did not conduct a strike in the area at that time. It is therefore possible that the reported strike was conducted by the CIA.

The incident occured in the morning.

Four alleged AQAP militants were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in Wadi Obeidah, Marib governorate, overnight from May 6th-7th 2019.

On May 15th 2019, US Central Command told New America that no strikes had taken place since March 29th, and explicitly denying reports of a May 5th US military strike, which may refer to this event. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.

Multiple missiles reportedly targeted a small passenger bus or truck, passing between the Al-Ramsa and Al-Hazma areas, according to local-language news outlets, including 7Hadramout, Al-Ain, and Shabwa Press. Sources indicated to AFP and others that the vehicle was heading to a farm in the governorate. A security source told Al-Ain that there were successive explosions from the scene, indicating that the bus may have been transporting weapons and ammunition.

Most claimed that the strike took place on May 7th. One source, Maeen Press, instead suggested a time late on the evening of May 6th. Indeed, the earliest identified tweet relating to this event was at 12.26am local time on May 7th. As such, Airwars has assessed that the strike took place at some time overnight from March 6th to March 7th.

On May 8th, an AQAP feed claimed that a militant named Habib Al-Jadawi was killed by a “Crusader” drone strike, likely referring to a recent strike, according to Dr Elisabeth Kendall (@Dr_E_Kendall). Given that this was the only known reported US strike since mid-April, it is possible that Al-Jadawi was one of those allegedly killed in this event.

Despite CENTCOM’s denial, this event may have been either a CIA or Saudi-led Coalition action.

The incident occured during the night.

Multiple sources suggested that, on the afternoon of March 2nd 2017, a US airstrike targeted a car in farmland surrounding the Wadea district of Abyan province, reportedly killing five AQAP militants – including a regional militant leader in Dar Saad Aden.  There were no reported civilian casualties.

Multiple sources named the AQAP leader as Osama Haidar, and named the others killed as Rasas al-Adani, Saraq al-Adani, Radwan al-Adani, and Hamli al-Bureiki.

The car, reportedly a Corolla, was said to have been struck at 3:30pm while, according to one source, it was transporting weapons and explosives from Wadea to Mojan in al-Maraqisha.  One local language Facebook source indicated that the strike took place on Al-Waddi Road, in the al-Khobar area. On March 6th, the New York Times reported that the strike took place as the car passed through a farm. After the strike, AQAP militants reportedly removed five bodies from the wrecked car.

Speaking with NBC, Haidar’s brother-in-law, Aly Mohamed Somly, confirmed that Osama Haidar was killed in a strike against a car, along with four others. Somly told NBC that Haidar had joined AQAP after the organisation freed him from jail, where he was tortured. NBC reported that, according to Somly, “Haidar fought with al Qaeda against the Iranian-backed Shia Houthi rebels. He then found himself fighting Saudi and United Arab Emirates forces when those countries began fighting al Qaeda”. Akhbar al-Youm reported that Osama Haidar also went by the name “Abu Al-Bara”, and was accused of killing sixteen people in an attack on a nursing home in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, in 2016.

This reported airstrike took place amid a dramatic intensification of US operations against AQAP. On March 3rd, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davies announced that more than thirty strikes had been conducted since March 2nd in Yemen. On the same day, Associated Press reported that Yemeni officials and residents said that the US had conducted “dozens of airstrikes on al-Qaida targets in Yemen overnight and in the past 48 hours in one of the lengthiest, sustained operations inside this conflict-torn Arab country”. A US military intelligence source told NBC News that the strikes beginning March 2nd were “part of ‘new directives’ to aggressively pursue the Dhahab and Qayfa clans”.

The incident occured at approximately 3:30 pm local time.