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 of January 29th, The Federal Government of Somalia in coordination with and supported by the US Government, conducted an airstrike inside the al-Shabaab-controlled city of Jilib. One al-Shabaab occupied compound was destroyed in the strike.”

Omar also noted that “This week has seen a number of successful military operations in and around the al Shabaab stronghold of Jilib.”

Along with a declared US strike on the town on January 27th, this indicated additional joint Somali-US actions in the area around this time.

AFRICOM confirmed this on February 3rd, issuing a press release which noted that “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a series of operations to disrupt al-Shabaab terrorists in various locations in southern Somalia, Jan. 23-29…

“As a result of these operations we currently assess that one (1) al-Shabaab terrorist was killed in the vicinity of Jilib and two (2) al-Shabaab compounds were destroyed; one in Jamaame and one in Jilib. Due to operational security and force protection considerations, it prevented issuing a press release immediately. ‘We assess these compounds were used by al-Shabaab militants to organize and plan violent terrorist actions against innocent Somali citizens,’ said Hadfield. We currently assess no civilians were injured or killed as a result of these airstrikes.”

Responding to a request for clarification on dates, an AFRICOM official told Airwars by email on February 4th that “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab operations in the vicinity of Jilib, Somalia, on Jan. 29.  As a result of this airstrike, we currently assess that one (1) al-Shabaab terrorist was killed and one (1) al-Shabaab compounds were destroyed.”

The incident occured between 12:01 am and 5:00 am local time.

US forces carried out a strike against al Shabaab in an area around 50 kilometres north of Kismayo, a US Africa Command spokesperson later told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Post-strike analysis had not revealed the number of militants killed, a US spokesperson told the Bureau in an email exchange on July 31st. The event was also confirmed to US reporter Amanda Sperber as part of her 2019 investigation for The Nation.

On the same day, Reuters reported a major attack by al Shabaab on a Somali military base at Baar Sanguni, about 50 km (31 miles) north of Kismayo – which had killed 27 soldiers. Similarities in the reports suggest the US strike may have been a part of a counteraction.

This was the only strike publicly declared by AFRICOM for July 2019. However as Sperber notes, this may not be the actual case: “This lack of transparency has produced an almost total sense of confusion over what the United States is doing with its air attacks in Somalia. Three previously unreported strikes came to light as I investigated the story of an attack relayed by Khadija Hassan Ali, a mother of three from Marka, a city about 60 miles south of Mogadishu…

AFRICOM did not publicly announce any strikes in July, but a document leaked to me by an international human-rights organization indicated an attack on July 25 in Qalimow, a village to the north of Mogadishu and about 95 miles from Ali’s home. I approached AFRICOM and asked if any strikes had occurred between July 22 and 27. Applying RTQ, a spokesperson acknowledged a strike on July 23 but would not specify the location. After weeks of pressing, AFRICOM said the strike happened 30 miles north of Kismayo, Somalia’s southern port city, which is hundreds of miles from both Qalimow and Marka.

This information only makes the situation more puzzling: When asked to avow a strike that a major international organization noted on July 25th, AFRICOM admitted a strike in an entirely different location on July 23, and neither of these strikes match Ali’s recollections. In other words, there may have been three different strikes—one acknowledged by AFRICOM, one noted by the international organization, and one recalled by Ali—all around the same time, none of which were previously made public, and only one of which came to light via RTQ.”

The incident occured in the morning.

AFRICOM reported that the previous day it had “conducted two (2) airstrikes targeting al-Shabaab militants near Jilib, Middle Juba Region, Somalia, on January 23, 2019.”

It also asserted that “at this time we assess no civilians were injured or killed in these airstrikes.”

AFRICOM gave no figures on the number of belligerents killed. Associated Press confirmed the strikes and reported that AFRICOM “will no longer give details on fighters killed or damage done”, and claimed that future reporting of deaths and damages will remain at the discretion of the Somali Government.

Responding to an enquiry from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, AFRICOM stated: “We constantly review our reporting practices to ensure we provide the most pertinent information available that resonates with US and international audiences. This review includes an analysis of what resonates with media in its coverage of US Africa Command through our press releases and interviews.

“Because we are looking for better ways to communicate the strategic importance of our operations in support of our partners, we may not always lead with casualty numbers in our initial release. We also may be assessing the results of the strike and may not have complete information before we publish the press release. In those cases, we will provide casualty figures in response to query.”

The Washington Examiner was told that one militant died in the strikes [which Airwars has assigned to the other event on this date]: “‘We no longer discuss battle damage assessments resulting from our airstrikes,’ said Maj. Karl Wiest, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command, in response to an inquiry from the Washington Examiner. When pressed, Wiest said in a follow-up email that the U.S. assesses the Wednesday strikes killed one al-Shabaab militant. ‘While enemy casualties are an expected outcome of strike operations, the resulting number of EKIA [Enemy Killed in Action] is much less important to understand than how these strikes are helping our Somali partners achieve their strategic security objectives,’ Wiest added.”

This incident came after the deadliest airstrike in some time four days previously, which reportedly killed from 52 to 73 alleged belligerents.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had struck on this date what it says was an al Shabaab checkpoint, near Jilib. The US command also identified a second strike that day on an “al Shabaab named objective”, also near Jilib, which we list separately for this date.

The local time of the incident is unknown.