Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Between three and six civilians died and two to three others were wounded in a botched US airstrike in Marib Province on May 24, 2010, according to local sources. In addition, between one and two militants were killed and another injured in the same incident.
Civilian victims were named as:
Jaber Ben Ali Ben Jaber al-Shabwani, male, deputy governor of Marib (dead)
Abd Al-Majid Said ‘Anij Al-Shabwani, male (dead)
Ali ‘Aziz Al-Ja’uri Al-Dhamari, male (dead)
Fahd, uncle of Jaber al-Shabwani (wounded)
Fahd Ben Saoud Ben Maj’al al-Shabwani (wounded)
Muhammed Ben Said Ben Jamil, brother of Ali Ben Said Ben Jamil who is allegedly an AQAP member (wounded)
The US strike on a convoy of vehicles in the Marib desert reportedly killed Marib Province’s deputy governor, Jaber al-Shabwani, who was a top mediator in the government effort to demilitarize members of AQAP. Al-Shabwani was in a key position to negotiate, given that his brother, Ayad, was the local AQAP leader. On May 24, multiple sources, including Front Page, reported that the deputy governor had been en route to meet Al Qaeda members to seek their surrender. Reuters reported that the strike had meant to hit a farm allegedly harboring Al Qaeda operatives Ayed al-Shabwani and Mohammed Saeed bin Jaradan. Both names have been cited by news sources as alleged intended targets.
Reports on the death toll of the incident vary.
Swiss human rights group Alkamara named three who died in the strike in an October 2013 report. Along with deputy governor al Shabwani, the researchers found Abd al Majid Said Anij al Shabwani and Ali Aziz al Jauri al Dhamari were killed. The uncle, Fahed al Shabwani, was injured, according to the report.
Reuters cited a member of the local council in Marib according to whom the pre-down strike on Jaber al-Shabwani’s car killed him and three of his companions, while also wounding two others.
Aletq reported that “Al-Shabwani was killed with four of his bodyguards on Monday night”.
Long War Journal reported that “Jaber al-Shabwani, five of his bodyguards, and two Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives, including a local leader, were killed in an airstrike (…).” Shabwani was killed while meeting with Al Qaeda leader Mohammed Saeed bin Jameel at his farm, the Yemen Observer reported. Jameel, who is also known as Mohammed Saeed bin Jardane, and another al Qaeda operative were reported killed in the strike. The death of Mohammed bin Jameel was also reported by Al Jazeera. However, other sources including BBC News, RTT News and Aletq said that Jameel was only wounded and escaped.
In 2012, Project on Middle East Political Science reported that “The Marib governorate, east of Sanaa, has been wracked with chaos ever since the death of Jaber al-Shabwani, son of prominent Sheikh Ali al-Shabwani, killed by a U.S. drone strike in May 2010.”
Immediately after the strike occurred, Al Jazeera wrote that “Members of Jaber al-Shabwani tribe responded to his killing by attacking the pipeline that carries oil from Marib to Ras Isa, a terminal on the Red Sea coast.” The Nation said that tribesman also opened fire on government buildings and tried to occupy the presidential palace in Marib. “As anti-government protest began sweeping the country, Ali and his tribesmen ramped up their campaign against the government’s infrastructure. The oil pipeline was attacked several more times, and attacks against power stations began”, according to Foreign Policy and POMEPS.
While the Yemeni authorities expressed their regret at the killing of a senior official in the Marib governorate and formed a committee to investigate the incident, Marib Press reported on March 15, 2011, almost a year after the strike occurred, that tribesman once again blew up oil pipelines because the government had still not disclose the exact circumstances of the death of al-Shabwani. In July 2012, Yemen Press reported that oil export still had not resumed “because tribesmen prevented the repair of the main crude pipeline that was sabotaged last year.”
The destruction of oil pipelines led to billions of dollars lost in revenue for the Yemeni government and major fuel shortages, as reported by CS monitor and Yemen Press. Moreover, Alkamara said that the strike on al-Shabwani raised the appeal of Al Qaeda in the region. Similarly, the New York times called the May strike “a propaganda bonanza for Al Qaeda”. NYT quoted Abdul Ghani al-Eryani, a Yemeni political analyst, according to whom “the civilians deaths gave ammunition to Al Qaeda and the Salafists.” According to the NYT, “It would be 12 months before the US struck again in Yemen.
Sources are conflicted as to who is responsible for the strike. Arab News reported that “A statement from a Yemeni High Security Council source expressed sorrow for the death of Al-Shabwani and called him a martyr, but did not specify who carried out the strike or what type of aircraft was used. However, Ahmed Bin Zabaa, a member of the panel investigating the May 24 strike said that “locals blamed a US drone that has been flying in their area for several months now for the strike.” Similarly, Mareb Press reported that “Sheikh Ali bin Jaber al-Shabwani (…) was killed by a US drone aircraft (…).” US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal would not comment on questions about the possible US involvement in airstrikes in Yemen, but did confirm that the US continues to provide logistical and intelligence support for Yemeni counterterrorism operations.
In late 2011 the Wall Street Journal reported that some current and former US military officials were now claiming that they were fed misleading intelligence which “may have been intended to result in Mr. Shabwani’s death.” But there was also a clear suggestion of incompetence. An official involved in the operation told the paper: “It turned out you didn’t really know who was at all those [Yemeni] meetings. JSOC, frankly, wasn’t as up to speed as they should have been.”
The Yemen government reportedly provided intelligence used in the strike but denied that it had misled the US in any way.
The incident took place in the late evening of Monday May 24th, as reported by Yemen media in the immediate aftermath. According to Alkamara the strike took place at approximately 8pm. Soon afterwards the date of May 25th was more commonly stated.
Due to the nature of both CIA and US military involvement in Yemen, and the lack of official acknowledgement by the CIA for their involvement, Airwars grades this event as “declared” due to the comments made by US government sources to media, in lieu of public reporting on CIA actions. It is unclear if US involvement in the operation was limited to providing intelligence and munitions, or also included more extensive operational actions
The incident occured in the evening.
The victims were named as:
Family members (6)
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (103) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Tribal leader Jaber al-Shabwani (shown second from right) participating in a seminar on development in Ma’rib in March 2010, two months before he was killed in a U.S. drone strike. (Photo: Nadwa Al-Dawsari, posted by POMED)
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention Marib (مَأْرِب) province, for which the generic coordinates are: 15.329227, 45.441995. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
In late 2011 the Wall Street Journal reported that some current and former US military officials were now claiming that they were fed misleading intelligence which “may have been intended to result in Mr. Shabwani’s death.” But there was also a clear suggestion of incompetence. An official involved in the operation told the paper: “It turned out you didn’t really know who was at all those [Yemeni] meetings. JSOC, frankly, wasn’t as up to speed as they should have been.”