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
A child and a humanitarian worker were reported killed, in addition to two leaders from Al Qaeda affiliated Hurras Addin group, and other civilians reported injured after a US drone allegedly struck two cars simultaneously in Arab Sa’eed town, west of Idlib in Syria on October 15th, 2020. On October 29th, the organisation Bonyan announced
At least one person, identified as an Al-Qaeda affiliate, was killed in alleged US drone strikes on the Al-Hadba area in the Wadi Marib district of Yemen the afternoon of November 13, 2021. A post from Hudhud Sabaa news alleged that a US drone strike targeted an Al-Qaeda affiliate from Al-Dhalea’s Al-Dhalea district in Hadbaa Al-Aushan.
US declared airstrikes near Cadale, Middle Shabelle, Somalia on December 14, 2022 allegedly killed seven al-Shabaab militants, with no civilians killed or injured. Statements from the Somali government put casualty counts at 88 al-Shabaab militants killed in Middle Shabelle. AFRICOM released a statement on December 18th that “At the request of the Federal Government of
An anonymous Yemen defence ministry official claimed that a significant number of US drone strikes had taken place between mid-May and mid-June 2011. Strikes began in Shabwa province from May 3 onwards. According to The National, 15 US strikes took place between June 1 and June 15, including one on June 11 in which there
On the 24th of February, 2024, the Federal Government of Somalia released a statement claiming that attacks by Somali government forces and international partner forces, conducted early in the morning of the same day, had killed 30 Al-Shabaab militants at a meeting point in the village of Jilib Marka, in the Lower Shabelle region of
An alleged US Predator drone strike struck a makeshift Al Qaeda checkpoint in Mihfed, Abyan Province killing up to 10 members of Al Qaeda and wounding as many as dozens more. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm. AFP reported that a local security official said that the US drone strike had killed
An array of news organizations, military sources, and local witnesses have described an attack by a suspected American drone that killed between five and eight members of Al Qaeda in Jaar in the Abyan governate, located in southern Yemen, between May 9 and May 10, 2012. A local source described hearing three explosions around midnight,
An alleged US drone strike killed between eight and 10 suspected Al Qaeda militants on the road between the town of Qatn and the village of Khasha in the Hadramout province at 7.30am on August 31st, 2012. There were no reports of civilian harm. @basselabowardh was among the first to tweet that a drone was
In an email to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a US spokesperson stated that a CENTCOM strike had targeted ISIS militants in Al Bayda governorate on November 10th 2017, killing two. This confirmed earlier local reports that a US drone strike had killed two alleged militants in or near Sirar Jusham, in the Qayfa area,
A second air strike reportedly occurred on 24th December 2009 in the province of Abyan “of which the death toll is unknown”, according to the Swiss-based human rights organization, Alkarama. No other sources were found that reported on this strike.
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,
AFRICOM reported that the previous day it had conducted “a precision airstrike in Somalia against al-Shabaab on Thurs., Sept. 7 at approximately 2:45 p.m. local Somalia time”. The release made no mention of civilian harm. However, AFRICOM asserted that the strike had killed “one (1) terrorist”. The strike was carried out under authorities passed in
AFRICOM reported that two days previously it had “conducted an airstrike destroying an al-Shabaab vehicle-borne improvised explosive device near Jana Cabdalle, Somalia, on the afternoon of April 11.” AFRICOM made no mention of civilian harm. Additionally, AFRICOM did not state whether any belligerents had been killed in this strike. In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by
Four al Shabaab fighters were reported killed as the US carried out what it said was a self-defence strike in the vicinity of Awdheegle, Lower Shabelle, after US and partner forces came under attack, US Africa Command said in a statement. Associated Press gave a detailed report on the event: “Somali commandos backed by U.S.
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
A US strike targeted ISIS in Bayda governorate on January 12th 2018, a US Central Command spokesperson later told Long War Journal. No other known sources reported a US strike against ISIS at that time. It is possible that this statement referred to one of the US strikes reportedly conducted in Qayfa on January 12th
According to Voice of America correspondent Harun Maruf, two airstrikes by an unknown party struck al Shabaab targets in southern Somalia. According to Maruf’s initial tweet, “A strike in Jamame area reportedly hit a graduation ceremony of new recruits for Jaysh Ayman, the Al-Shabaab unit that operates in Kenya.” The other strike allegedly targeted Buaale.
Local reports claimed that US airstrikes had targeted al Shabaab bases near Hargessa Yarey village in Middle Juba, in support of ground operations by Somali forces. AFRICOM itself did not publicly report any strikes on this date. According to Goobjoog News, “Airstrike operations targeting Al-Shabab militant launch by U.S Africom with Somalia forces in Middle
Two Al Shabaab members were killed and another wounded in two or more US airstrikes near Saakow, according to AFRICOM. The US later said the pair, a husband and wife, were both active terrorists within al Shabaab. The initial press release said: “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an
Several sources reported that a US drone strike in Al Wade’a district, Abyan governorate, targeted the home of alleged AQAP leader Abu Ubaidah al-Damaji at around dawn on March 31st 2017. There were no known reports of civilian harm. Sources indicated that it was unclear whether al-Damaji or any others died in the strike on
A reported US drone strike targeted a minibus in Al Rawda neighbourhood, in the Wadi Ubaida area of Marib governorate, on the afternoon of August 3rd 2017. Several sources suggested that the strike targeted AQAP militants in the bus, killing three, though others indicated that as many as two civilians were killed and four injured,
At least five AQAP militants were reportedly killed in the course of up to five alleged US drone strikes in Qayfa, Bayda governorate, on the evening of January 12th 2018. According to local-language news sources, strikes reportedly targeted the area of Hami Liqah. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm. A source told
One local-language social-media source, @HAlwlaqi, suggested that at least one US drone strike had targeted “Islah terrorist militia” camps in Marib, including in the “third regional command”, apparently overnight from August 28th-29th 2019. Another, @muneeffaisal1, stated at around the same time that a US drone had targeted a “military convoy” in Marib, possibly referring to
A single source, Al-Masdar Online, alleged that a US airstrike killed Yasser Ali Abdullah al-Silmi, also known as Abu al Muhajir al Ebbi, in Qayfa, Bayda governorate, at dawn on March 6th 2017. A US Pentagon spokesperson, however, announced on March 6th that a US airstrike killed AQAP members Usayd al-Adani and Yasir al-Silmi in
Two civilians were initially reported wounded in two US airstrikes on Kunya Barrow, local reports claimed. AFRICOM later confirmed that three civilians were in fact injured in the attack. Radio Al Furqaan, the Al Shabaab-affiliated radio station bombed in the incident, said at the time: “On Friday afternoon, January 1, 2021, US warplanes bombed the
An unknown number of casualties among militants resulted from alleged Somalia forces with the assistance of US airstrikes/drone strikes on October 7, 2021. Harun Maruf a journalist with Voice of America reported that the Somali military in collaboration with international security partners carried out airstrikes on four militant camps, destroying them. At the time there
Between five and 70 alleged al-Shabaab militants were killed by declared US airstrikes and/or Somali government ground actions near Bacadweyne in the Mudug of central Galmudug state on February 15, 2023. AFRICOM released a statement on February 16th that “At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia and in support of Somali National Army
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
An air attack by the US and/or Yemen on a militant-occupied factory where arms were allegedly stored killed three to seven belligerents near Ja’ar the evening of March 11, 2012. Ansar al Sharia, along with other sources, said that US drones carried out the early evening strike, with up to five drones reportedly taking part.
Between three and five militants were killed as suspected Yemeni Air Force/US warplanes struck Jaar, Abyan on May 19, 2012, international and local media reported. There are currently no known reports of civilian harm. As fighting between government and insurgent forces continued in the south of Yemen, sources reported that “dozens” of Al Qaeda militants