Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USSOM044

Incident date

December 22, 2015

Location

Shanta Ameriko, Lower Shabelle, Somalia

Geolocation

1.218208, 43.360354 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

A US drone strike reportedly killed Abu Ubaidah, leader of al Shabaab, as well as four other fighters. The US told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “We are aware of the media reports but have no information on the incident.” However two named Somali officials asserted that it was a drone attack.

Ubaidah replaced Ahmed Abdi Godane when he was killed by US drones in September 2014. The US put out a reward in November 2015 for up to $6m to anyone with information leading to the location of Ubaidah.

It should be noted that Airwars was not able to retrieve the original confirmation from Africom to BIJ, and must thus rely on paraphrasing BIJ’s earlier reporting.

The incident occured during the night.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    5

Sources (4) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention that the strike targeted an Al Shabaab base in an area called Shanta Ameriko, reportedly the location of a former American oil company. According to GeoNames the coordinates for the Shanta Ameriko area are: 1.218208, 43.360354. This location is in an area that was explored by the American oil company Amoco during the 1980s however we weren’t able to narrow down a specific oil structure in this area. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

  • Shanta Ameriko in the Amoco exploration block 6 in the 1980s

    Imagery:
    DIGGA Institute

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab
  • Belligerents reported killed
    5

Sources (4) [ collapse]