Local media reported that four civilians including a woman were wounded when a cluster bomb that was dropped in a previous strike (the date unknown) exploded in Ma’aret Al Nu’man on March 28th.
Sources were conflicted on whether the cluster bomb had originally been dropped by regime or Russian forces.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
A US airstrike took place in Bayda governorate on March 28th 2019, a US Central Command spokesperson later told New America – one of six declared strikes that month.
One local source, Huna Al-Bayda, reported that “three senior al Qaeda leaders were killed in an [US] airstrike by a drone on the border between al-Bayda and Shabwa. The sources confirmed that among the three killed was a local leader named Mohammed al-Mantheri, the brother of al-Qaeda’s emir in al-Suma’a in al-Bayda province.”
Since there were no other known reported US strikes on March 28th, this event is treated as declared. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Reports of the incident mention an unspecified area being struck along the border of Al Bayda (البيضاء) and Shabwa (شبوه) governorates. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for this area are: 14.449679, 45.807386.
Our Yemen strikes data has been updated for individualized dates after CENTCOM responded to an inquiry on the eight strikes in 2019. Strikes were as follows: 1/1, 1/21, 3/25, 3/25, 3/26, 3/28, 3/29, and 3/29. All but 1/1 in al Bayda'
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 other known local reports of a strike on that day, nor was there any available information on casualties. A separate entry has been created for a second US action on this date (USYEMTr196).
Several sources later reported that a US strike took place in Bayda on March 30th (USYEMTr197); it is possible that this declared strike referred to this event.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Reports of the incident mention the Al Bayda (البيضاء) governorate. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Al Bayda governorate are: 14.313489, 45.305892.
Our Yemen strikes data has been updated for individualized dates after CENTCOM responded to an inquiry on the eight strikes in 2019. Strikes were as follows: 1/1, 1/21, 3/25, 3/25, 3/26, 3/28, 3/29, and 3/29. All but 1/1 in al Bayda'
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 other known local reports of a strike on that day, nor was there any available information on casualties. A separate entry has been created for a second US action on this date (USYEMTr195).
Several sources later reported that a US strike took place in Bayda on March 30th (USYEMTr197); it is possible that this declared strike referred to this event.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Reports of the incident mention the Al Bayda (البيضاء) governorate. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Al Bayda governorate are: 14.313489, 45.305892.
Our Yemen strikes data has been updated for individualized dates after CENTCOM responded to an inquiry on the eight strikes in 2019. Strikes were as follows: 1/1, 1/21, 3/25, 3/25, 3/26, 3/28, 3/29, and 3/29. All but 1/1 in al Bayda'
Three alleged AQAP militants, including at least one leadership figure, were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in Bayda governorate on March 30th 2019. Though most suggested that the strike took place in Sama’a district, two sources, including Xinhua, instead located the strike in the Anah or Tayeb area of Dhi Naseem district.
Sources, including Huna Al-Bayda, News Yemen, and Al-Masdar Online, named those killed as Abu Ammar Al-Hadrami, Mohammed Salem Umqaida Abu Yusuf Al-Fahtani, and Abu Abdul Ilah al-Mantheri. Xinhua suggested that others were injured in the strike. As such, Airwars has assessed that a minimum of two militants were reportedly injured.
Huna Al-Bayda described Al-Hadrami as an AQAP mufti and leader, who “issued fatwas to authorise crimes and carry out terrorist operations”. Al-Fahtani was reported by one source, Yaqeen Online, to be a Saudi national, though others suggested he was from the Ambqria area of Mudiya district, in Abyan governorate. Al-Mantheri was alleged to be from Sama’a district in Bayda; Huna Al-Bayda described him as AQAP’s emir in Mudiya district. Sources variously suggested that at least one and as many as all of those killed were leadership figures in AQAP.
According to academic Dr Elisabeth Kendall, AQAP stated that a US drone had targeted its fighters on March 30th, who were battling Islamic State in Bayda governorate at the time. While most reported that the targets were AQAP militants, some initial local-language social media responses, from accounts such as @kyanalyamani51, suggested that the strike had targeted “ISIS-funded” militants.
The US did not publicly report a strike on March 30th, though a CENTCOM spokesperson told New America that two strikes (listed by Airwars as USYEMTr196 and USYEMTr195) took place in Bayda on March 29th. Since no other sources reported strikes on the 29th, it is possible that one or both of these declared strikes were part of this event. However all local sources were quite clear that this incident occurred on Saturday March 30th. It therefore remains possible that this was either a CIA or Saudi-led Coalition action.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Reports of the incident mention the Al Suma’a District (مديرية الصومعة) for which the generic coordinates are: 14.166667, 45.831111. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Our Yemen strikes data has been updated for individualized dates after CENTCOM responded to an inquiry on the eight strikes in 2019. Strikes were as follows: 1/1, 1/21, 3/25, 3/25, 3/26, 3/28, 3/29, and 3/29. All but 1/1 in al Bayda'
One adult male civilian died and up to four other civilians (including a father and his two children) were wounded in an alleged Assad regime or Russian artillery bombardment of Kafar Zeita on the afternoon of April 1st, local sources reported.
According to Smart News, Russian forces conducted heavy artillery shelling on the cities of Latamna and Kafar Zeita from their positions in Al Kabaryih and Hilfaya.
However, most other sources including Kafar Zeita TV and Orient News blamed the Syrian regime. Kafar Zeita TV reported that “the city was hit by artillery and rocket fire from the regime’s positions in the Sheikh Hadid and Deir Maharada camps with 15 shells.”
Several sources reported the use of rocket launchers, although Syrian Network for Human Rights referred to the use of missile launchers.
Jorf News gave some context: “For about two months, the regime has continued to bombard the demilitarized zone declared in the countryside of Idlib, Hama, Lattakia and Aleppo under the Sochi Agreement signed between Russia and Turkey, resulting in dozens of civilian casualties and the displacement of thousands.”
The incident occured between 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm local time.
The victims were named as:
Family members (4)
The victims were named as:
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Four civilians were reported killed in an airstrike on Jebel Uweinat by an unknown belligerent. While the majority of sources said those killed were combatants, the Libya Observer said they were civilians.
It said: “On another level, spokesperson of warlord Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled army, Ahmed Al-Mismari denied that the bombing was coordinated with their forces, describing the four victims as ‘terrorists’.”
Alwasat quoted the LNA spokesperson Ahmed al-Mismari saying that four terrorists were killed in the strike.
Mohammed Mahjoob said five AL Qaeda members were killed.
Mohammed al-Bass named six ISIS members supposedly killed in the attack (four of them pictured below).
Both LNA and US AFRICOM denied responibility for the strike.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Reports of the incident mention the vicinity of the Jebel Uweinat (جبل العوينات), for which the generic coordinates are: 21.900113, 24.966917. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
A ground operation struck a minibus carrying civilians, killing one woman and injuring up to six others, local media reported. While one source claimed that the attack was conducted by drone, others said it was a ground operation, involving Somali and possibly also US troops.
AFRICOM later denied responsibility for civilian harm on the grounds that “no U.S. military strike took place on the alleged date or location.” However it failed to clarify whether US troops were present on the ground as widely reported – or whether they had been involved in the confirmed civilian harm event,
The Somali Ministry of Information admitted that four civilians were injured during the event, tweeting that “During the night of 3 April SFG security forces captured a very senior al-Shabaab during a capture operation in Ugunji village in lower shabelle. Unfortunately, 4 locals were shot and injured during this raid. The 4 were in a car and failed to stop after repeated warnings. In fact, they actually sped up towards the force… The security force rendered medical aid to the vehicle occupants and released them.”
According to Garowe, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) thought to be American dropped a munition in al Shabaab controlled Ukunji, around 100km southwest of Mogadishu.
“The attack happened during a joint U.S.-Somali forces’ military operation against the Al-Qaeda-linked extremist group, Al-Shabab in the area, according to a resident, speaking to Garowe Online by phone. Other reports said residential houses and shops were also hit during the bombing. Graphic Pictures taken at the scene after the strike and seen by Garowe Online showed a bullet-riddled Nissan Homy packed with vegetables and chicken on the top as well as destroyed shopping centers,” asserted Garowe.
The alleged strike happened during a joint operation between US and Somali forces, claimed a source that Garowe interviewed.The newspaper also published 13 images it said were taken at the scene of the strike.
However other sources said the attack was a ground operation only. Action for Women and Children Concern for example tweeted that “Suspected US forces & SNAs [Somali National Army] opened fire on minibus carrying vegetables,last night. A female passenger was killed and 6 other passengers were injured,4 of them in critical condition.The incident took place in #Ungunji town,#LowerShabelle,#Somalia”.
US Africa Command is yet to comment on the allegation of civilian harm, or publicly to report any strike for this location and date. In autumn 2019, US investigative journalist Nick Turse obtained via FOIA a declassified document listing recent locally-alleged civilian harm from US actions, which AFRICOM was reviewing.
The fourth entry notes for the date April 4th 2019 that “[redacted source] published an article alleging that a drone strike killed a woman traveling to Mogadishu and wounded six others in the vicinity of Farsooley.” The outcome of AFRICOM’s assessment was entirely redacted.
On April 27th 2020, AFRICOM publicly denied responsibility for civilian harm in the event, noting: “April 4, 2019, AFRICOM received one allegation from an online media source claiming one (1) civilian was killed and six (6) civilians injured as a result of a U.S. military operation and airstrike in the vicinity of Ugunji, Somalia on April 3, 2019. AFRICOM received a duplicate allegation of this incident on January 21, 2020, from a foreign non-government organization. After review, the allegations were assessed to be unsubstantiated because no U.S. military strike took place on the alleged date or location.”
In followup questions from Airwars, AFRICOM confirmed that “the term ‘strike’ is defined as U.S. munitions of any type employed by U.S. military forces under the authority of U.S. Africa Command. This includes both air and ground operations.”
An official also provided the following responses:
“1) Were US ground forces present as alleged?
USAFRICOM forces were not in the vicinity of where the alleged civilian harm occurred.
2) Did US ground forces engage in kinetic actions?
USAFRICOM did not execute a kinetic strike on the alleged date.
3) Are any US kinetic ground actions believed to have contributed to civilian harm?
USAFRICOM ground forces did not contribute to the alleged civilian harm.”
The incident occured around dawn.
Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place in the village Ukunji (or Ugunji), 100 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. The coordinates for Ukunji are: 1.87348, 44.72262. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
The Somali Ministry of Information admitted that four civilians were injured during the event, tweeting that "During the night of 3 April SFG security forces captured a very senior al-Shabaab during a capture operation in Ugunji village in lower shabelle. Unfortunately, 4 locals were shot and injured during this raid. The 4 were in a car and failed to stop after repeated warnings. In fact, they actually sped up towards the force... The security force rendered medical aid to the vehicle occupants and released them."
April 4, 2019, AFRICOM received one allegation from an online media source claiming one (1) civilian was killed and six (6) civilians injured as a result of a U.S. military operation and airstrike in the vicinity of Ugunji, Somalia on April 3, 2019. AFRICOM received a duplicate allegation of this incident on January 21, 2020, from a foreign non-government organization. After review, the allegations were assessed to be unsubstantiated because no U.S. military strike took place on the alleged date or location.
[In response to Airwars queries]: For the Civilian Casualty Quarterly Assessment report the term "strike" is defined as U.S. munitions of any type employed by U.S. military forces under the authority of U.S. Africa Command. This includes both air and ground operations. We have answered the questions separately under each numbered incident. 4. April 4, 2019, AFRICOM received one allegation from an online media source claiming one (1) civilian was killed and six (6) civilians injured as a result of a U.S. military operation and airstrike in the vicinity of Ugunji, Somalia on April 3, 2019. AFRICOM received a duplicate allegation of this incident on January 21, 2020, from a foreign non-government organization. After review, the allegations were assessed to be unsubstantiated because no U.S. military strike took place on the alleged date or location. 1) Were US ground forces present as alleged? USAFRICOM forces were not in the vicinity of where the alleged civilian harm occurred. 2) Did US ground forces engage in kinetic actions? USAFRICOM did not execute a kinetic strike on the alleged date. 3) Are any US kinetic ground actions believed to have contributed to civilian harm? USAFRICOM ground forces did not contribute to the alleged civilian harm.