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
US forces helped Somali commandos in an operation in southern Somalia that killed several members of al Shabaab, a Pentagon official said on August 16th. The operation took place on August 10th. Somali forces approached an al Shabaab checkpoint. The terrorists reportedly opened fire and a gun battle ensued. “US advisers accompanied the Somali-led force,
In an alleged friendly fire incident, a US strike in Sirte was reported to have accidentally killed 13 Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous members. According to Erem News, LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari commented on the incident: “Colonel Ahmed al-Mismari reported the killing of 13 GNA soldiers in a US aircraft by mistake, which was targeting elements of Daesh
Local residents said jets bombed an al Shabaab camp near El Adde in Gedo region late at night on Sunday July 24. The attack hit the same area that 100 Kenyan peacekeepers were killed in January 2016 when al Shabaab forces overran their base. It was attributed to the Kenyan Defence Force with the Pentagon
The US conducted “a self-defence strike against al Shabaab, killing three” in southern Somalia, describing the action as having “provided defensive fires to protect U.S. troops from imminent threats posed by the terrorist group al-Shabaab.” A statement from US Africa Command (Africom) issued at the time said “the operation was conducted after it was assessed
Unidentified jets struck what were described as “al Shabaab hideouts” in Galgala in the northern autonomous region of Puntland, according to a local report. Garowe Online said the strikes – carried out by warplanes “launched from a carrier at sea” – hit militants in their bases along the Golis Mountain Ranges in Puntland, northern Somalia.
Up to 16 al Shabaab fighters died in an operation reportedly carried out by Somali forces with US support, multiple sources said. The US claimed at the time that at the time that Somali forces alone were responsible for the kinetic actions. However, a FOIA response obtained in 2019 confirmed that the US had in
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
In June 2016, the US reported that six weeks earlier it had struck a group of al Shabaab fighters, killing three. According to the AFRICOM statement released on June 27th 2016, “U.S. forces supporting the Federal Government of Somalia, the Somali National Army and troop contributing nations to the African Union Mission in Somalia, provided
A US air strike reportedly killed five people – all of them said to be al Shabaab fighters. The attack was defensive and conducted to protect African troops on the ground, an Africom spokesperson told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The Ugandan soldiers, part of the African Union peacekeeping force Amisom, were attacking a makeshift
Kenyan and Somali forces, and their US advisors, carried out a raid on an al Shabaab checkpoint in Toratorow. The US carried out an airstrike during the operation – though initially denied doing so. Media reports said helicopters were involved, indicating that both US air and ground forces were participating. However a US spokesperson denied
Three civilians were reportedly killed in a US drone strike in Lower Juba. The attack began late on April 11 and continued into the small hour of April 12, Lt Col Michelle Baldanza of AFRICOM later said in a statement. The camp “posed an imminent threat to US personnel,” she said. Somali officials allege the
The US carried airstrikes in self-defence in Jillib, Middle Juba, as reported by local media. According to one local tweet, the attack took place at night in Jilib. Mogadishu News claimed that eight militants were killed when an al Shabaab police station was struck – noting “civilian houses razed by the strikes.” UPDATE: Drone strikes
This was the second of two strikes confirmed by the Pentagon on April 4th 2016. The attack was a “self-defence air strikes against al Shabaab fighters who posed imminent threats to US and partner nation forces in Somalia,” Department of Defense spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Michelle Baldanza told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Earlier on April 4th,
At least four and up to 23 al Shabaab fighters were reported killed in a US airstrike at Buufow, near Janaaale. However more than three years later, one civilian fatality was also alleged. Two US actions on April 1st and April 2nd were later said to be “self-defence air strikes against al Shabaab fighters who
A US drone strike targeted a vehicle carrying three al Shabaab figures in southern Somalia. The attack hit in the early evening and killed a senior al Shabaab leader, Hassan Ali Dhoore, according to the Pentagon. There were additional reports that two other militants were killed alongside Hassan Ali Dhoore. There are currently no reports
At least 19 alleged militants were killed in a joint operation between US and Somali forces in the village of Awdhegle. US attack helicopters supported US and Somali Special Forces who attacked an al Shabaab target in southern Somalia, the Pentagon and Somali officials said. The assault took place overnight. The soldiers flew on US
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
Two civilians of Serbian embassy staffers died along with a reported two or more women in a US airstrike in Sabratha which overall killed between 43 and 60 people – mostly Tunisians, who were allegedly training to carry out atrocities in Tunisia on behalf of ISIS. The strike also reportedly killed Noureddine Chouchane, a senior member of
A US drone strike reportedly killed Abu Ubaidah, leader of al Shabaab, as well as four other fighters. The US told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “We are aware of the media reports but have no information on the incident.” However two named Somali officials asserted that it was a drone attack. Ubaidah replaced Ahmed Abdi
At least three alleged members of al Shahaab were killed in an airstrike against Kunyo-Barow village. The US action killed Abdirahman Sandhere, a senior al Shabaab fighter, the US Defence of Department (DoD) declared, along with two other suspected members of the group. There are currently no reports of civilian harm from this strike. The
Unidentified jets reportedly bombed three villages – Yasooman, Ceeldheer and Ceel Lahelay in the central Hiiraan region – all described as being under al Shabaab control. There were no reported casualties. According to All Africa: “An official says unidentified military jets bombed Al shabaab bases in the Somali region of Hiiraan on Sunday, the latest
A US strike targeted an al Shabaab base in Balad Amin in southern Somalia, killing between five and 10 of the group’s fighters. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported at the time that the US confirmed it carried out an airstrike “at approximately 4pm Eastern Time” – 1am November 22 local time – in defence
A US drone strike allegedly killed “a senior commander and other members” of al Shabaab. Two or three people were reportedly killed by the drones – with an artillery barrage from Kenyan troops followed up the air attack according to the Los Angeles Times, and reportedly killing 50 ‘militants’. This was the first of six
At least five US drone strikes hit in the space of three days killing an undisclosed number of people. They were reportedly carried out in support of African Union troops who were advancing on Baraawe, an al Shabaab stronghold since 2009. The strikes reportedly hit between the attack reported on July 15th and July 18th,
A US Special Forces drone strike allegedly killed Adan Garaar, a senior member of al Shabaab, according to the Pentagon and Somali and Kenyan officials. The attack reportedly destroyed one or two vehicles in southwestern Somalia, killing two other alleged members of the group. There are currently no reports of civilian harm from this strike.
A single news source reported that “unidentified armed drones” targeted two alleged al Shabaab camps. Witnesses said the attacks hit camps in the towns of Torato and Ambereso. The regional governor Abdikadir Mohamed Nur confirmed the strikes but said the death toll had not been confirmed, although the terror group had sustained “human and material
According to a Freedom of Information response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, this previously unknown US strike took place in Dinsoor, Somalia against an “al-Shabaab Named Objective”. It should be noted however that the last known declared US strike in Dinsoor prior to February 2nd 2015 was on January 31st 2015. There
At least four civilian casualties were reported injured or killed in a confirmed US attack on Dinsooor, though it was not clear if they were injured or killed. JSOC had targeted and killed Yusef Dheeqm, al Shabaab’s head of external operations in the drone strike. Rear Admiral John Kirby confirmed in two separate Pentagon press conferences
A mystery airstrike reportedly killed between 40 and 60 alleged belligerents on January 31st 2015. Xinhua also reported that “scores of others were injured” in the attack, leaving it unclear whether those injured were civilians or militants. It was described by some as a US drone strike – thought the Pentagon denied this. Abdulkadir Mohamed
Up to three senior members of al Shabaab were killed by a US military drone in Saakow, Middle Juba, international media reported. There were no known reports of associated civilian harm. The US military said that an airstrike had targeted a “senior leader” of the al Shabaab militant group. Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency later