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 Navy warships reportedly bombarded alleged AQAP targets in the vicinity of al-Maroun, in the al-Maraqisha area of Abyan, overnight from March 29th to March 30th. There are no known associated reports of civilian casualties. Multiple sources indicated that continuous fire from warships off the Abyan coast targeted various AQAP sites in the mountainous al-Maraqisha
A US airstrike targeted Al Shabaab in Jilib, according to local reporting. Radio Kulmiye said: “Suspected US airstrikes targeted to Al-shabaab compounds in southern Somalia. The attacks destroyed vehicles, camps and killed militants. According to Somali intelligence officials, the airstrikes carried by unidentified military planes targeted Jilib, Sakow and Bu’ale towns of Middle Jubba region,
Ten Al Shabaab members were reportedly killed by a US airstrike near Kobon. AFRICOM stated in its press release: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense strike against al-Shabaab terrorists who engaged U.S. partner forces, Somali National Army Danab, and Jubaland Security Force, near Kobon, Somalia, Apr.
A US airstrike took place in Bayda governorate on March 29th 2019, one of two on that day, a US Central Command spokesperson later told New America. In a separate press release, US Central Command stated that all six declared US military strikes in March 2019 strikes had targeted AQAP in Bayda. There were no
A US drone strike reportedly targeted at least one alleged AQAP militant, described as a leadership figure, near Kawkab village, in the Mudiyah district of Abyan governorate, on the evening of July 30th 2017. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. According to @demolinari, the strike targeted the vehicle of a “local AQAP
Eight civilians were allegedly killed in a joint US/Somali military operation near Tortorrow. Halgan Media said: “US trained Somali Paramilitary Forces (Danab) executed 8 civilians inside a Mosque during an overnight raid targeting the village of Moyiloow in the Lower Shabelle province of Somalia. All the victims where executed at close range. Two of them
At least one young man was killed and between six and seven civilians, including up to four children, were injured in a declared US drone strike on the Al-Mastouma Ariha road on December 3rd, 2021. Sources are conflicted as to whether the young man killed was an active or former member of the Guardians of
Between one to three civilians, including a woman and two children, were reported killed and up to five others, including a woman, a child and two paramedics, were injured in alleged US drone strikes on a home in the Al-Hadba area of Al-Wadi, Marib on November 30, 2022. A member of Ansar al-Sharia (AQAP) who
A civilian was injured by alleged Kenyan or United Arab Emirates or US airstrike on Saakow in Middle Jubba on June 16/17, 2023. Horn Observer reported that a civilian was injured by airstrikes in Saakow, possibly carried out by Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, or the US. Hormuud, Somalia’s largest telecom provider, also announced that
More than 30 Al-Shabaab militants were killed in an airstrike declared by Somali forces on Shabeelow village, located in the Mudug region of central eastern Somalia on the 23rd of September 2023, according to the Somali Ministry of Defense. Whilst an exact number of casualties was not given, the Ministry of Defense statement reported that
Libya’s Channel and Libya Akhbar reported on October 28th that ISIS was using civilians as human shields and that the evacuation of civilians was causing delay to the GNA campaign. The outlets both referred to Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous spokesman Rida Issa: “A member of the media centre of the Chamber of Operation, Rida Issa, said that
Four AQAP militants were killed in a confirmed CIA drone strike on Jawf, reports said. There are currently no reports of civilian harm from this strike. Anwar al Awlaki, the US-born cleric, apparently became the first US citizen to be deliberately killed by the CIA in a drone strike, part of Operation Troy. The attack
Six to seven militants were killed in an alleged US drone strike which destroyed one vehicle as it travelled as part of a three vehicle convoy along a desert road from Shabwa to Marib on the 12th of May, 2012. Al-Masdar Online reported that local residents had claimed that “the airstrike took place in the
Between six and seven militants including AQAP’s second-in-command Said al Shehri (aka al Shihri) were reportedly killed in an alleged US or Yemeni strike on a car and house in Hadramout, eastern Yemen on September 12, 2012, according to US and Yemeni officials. However, it is unclear at what point Shehri was killed as his
A US strike in Bayda governorate killed two AQAP militants on November 19th 2017, a US Central Command spokesperson told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. This confirmed local reports that a US drone strike had killed at least three alleged AQAP militants in Yakla, in the Wald Rabi area of Bayda governorate, on that evening.
As many as 43 ‘suspected Al Qaeda militants’ were killed and dozens of others were wounded in alleged US drone strikes and/or Yemeni air and artillery strikes in the Al Harur area of Lahj and Abyan governorates between 1-3 April 2012. The strikes were part of continuous raids by joint Yemeni land, sea, and air
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
On November 17th 2017, US Africa Command sent the Bureau of Investigative Journalism a list of previously unreported strikes, which included this one. An AFRICOM spokesperson explained that their goal “is to be as transparent as possible while taking into account operational security, force protection and diplomatic sensitivities.” It therefore did not proactively release information
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,
AFRICOM publicly reported two strikes on the same area on the same day – asserting that it had killed 28 al Shabaab militants in total in the vicinity of Gandarshe. Another four strikes took place at the same location the previous day on December 15th, it said – killing another 34 militants. “All six airstrikes
The US military carried out an airstrike in Garowle, Lower Shabelle region, according to a press release issued by US Africa Command the following day. The release asserted that two terrorists were killed in the strike, and that one motorcycle was also destroyed. It further noted that AFRICOM currently assessed that no civilians were harmed
The US military conducted a fresh airstrike on so-called Islamic State in Somaliland, reporting the next day that they had killed one senior member of the terrorist group in the Golis Mountains region. “At this time, it is assessed the airstrike killed one (1) terrorist who played a key role in facilitation for the group,
A US strike against an unknown party took place in Bayda governorate on February 24th 2018, the second of two on that date, a US Central Command spokesperson later told the Long War Journal. There were reports that a strike took place in the Al Quraishyah District (مديريه القريشيه) of Bayda against four alleged belligerents
The United States carried out a second airstrike near Jilib on September 3rd 2019, this time against an “al-Shabaab associated vehicle”, and with no known casualties. Details were revealed by AFRICOM in an email exchange with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism on October 4th 2019: “Separately, AFRICOM conducted an air strike targeting al-Shabaab equipment in
The chief spokesman of the Somali government, Ismael Mukhtar Omar, reported in a tweet that an al Shabaab compound in Jilib had been destroyed by a US airstrike. AFRICOM did not declare the strike at the time, though did later confirm the action on February 3rd/4th. According to Omar’s initial tweet, “In the early morning
Multiple sources reported that a US drone strike on the evening of March 3rd 2017 targeted Sheikh Abdulilah al-Dhahab and four of his guards, all of whom were alleged to be AQAP militants, while they were travelling in Marib governorate. Some sources suggested that the strike took place on the outskirts of Marib, the capital
Reported airstrikes, which some local sources said were US drone strikes, targeted alleged AQAP militants on a farm in the Al Sabkha area, east of Ahwar city, early on April 1st 2017. There are no known associated reports of civilian harm, though one report suggested that a civilian farm was destroyed. Several sources reported that
In an event not publicly disclosed at the time, US Africa Command conducted a strike in the vicinity of Saakow on February 21st, 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
A US drone strike reportedly killed at least one alleged AQAP militant in Marib governorate, according to some local language social media accounts, though others suggested that he was an officer in the Yemen army. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. Most sources indicated that Muhammad Talib Saleh Al-Faqir was killed in
Three US drone strikes reportedly targeted a convoy of alleged AQAP militants travelling through Aqaba Al Qandha area of Shabwa governorate, on the morning of September 2nd 2019. No known sources gave information on casualties of the strikes, and there were no known associated reports of civilian harm. “Private sources” told Shabwa Press that US