Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A statement from the Pentagon said an airstrike in south-central Somalia had targeted Abdullahi Haji Daud – but initially did not confirm whether Daud had been killed. However on June 8th, Africom announced a “final assessment” which concluded “Daud was struck and killed in the airstrike”. There are currently no reports of civilian harm.
It was not immediately clear if Daud was the same man as the Maalim Daud who had been on the US Rewards for Justice wanted list since November 2015. The US government was offering up to $5m (£3.5m on June 2 2016) as reward for information regarding that man’s whereabouts.
In November 2019 the US Reward page for Daud remained active – suggesting he may not in fact have been killed.
The full Pentagon statement read: “On May 27, US forces carried out an airstrike in south-central Somalia targeting Abdullahi Haji Daud, a senior military commander for al Shabaab. Daud was one of al Shabaab’s most senior military planners and served as a principal coordinator of al Shabaab’s militia attacks in Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda. He held several positions of authority within the terrorist organization over the years, including head of the Amniyat, al Shabaab’s Security and Intelligence Branch.
Daud has been responsible for the loss of many innocent lives through attacks he has planned and carried out. We are confident that the removal from the terrorist network of this experienced al Shabaab commander with extensive operational experience will disrupt near-term attack planning, potentially saving many innocent lives.
We are currently assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate. US forces remain committed to supporting the Federal Government of Somalia, the Somali National Army, and our [Amisom] partners in defeating al Shabaab and establishing a safe and secure environment in Somalia.”
In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had struck what it says was “a named al Shabaab objective” fighters, in Jilib, Somalia.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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The US Rewards for Justice page for Daud was still active in November 2019 - indicating that he may not actually have been killed three years previously.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident initially only mentioned that the strike took place in South-central Somalia. A subsequent FOIA response pointed to the town Jilib as location of the strike. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The coordinates for the town Jilib are: 0.494527, 42.777868.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
On June 1st 2016, The Pentagon stated:
"On May 27, U.S. forces carried out an airstrike in south-central Somalia targeting Abdullahi Haji Da'ud, a senior military commander for al-Shabaab. Da'ud was one of al-Shabaab's most senior military planners and served as a principal coordinator of al-Shabaab's militia attacks in Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda. He held several positions of authority within the terrorist organization over the years, including head of the Amniyat, al-Shabaab's Security and Intelligence Branch.
Da'ud has been responsible for the loss of many innocent lives through attacks he has planned and carried out. We are confident that the removal from the terrorist network of this experienced al-Shabaab commander with extensive operational experience will disrupt near-term attack planning, potentially saving many innocent lives.
We are currently assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate. U.S. forces remain committed to supporting the Federal Government of Somalia, the Somali National Army, and our African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) partners in defeating al-Shabaab and establishing a safe and secure environment in Somalia.
On June 8th 2106, AFRICOM reported:
STUTTGART, Germany -- U.S. Africa Command has completed assessment of two recent actions against al-Shabaab targets in Somalia.
On May 27, 2016 U.S. forces carried out an airstrike in south-central Somalia targeting Abdullahi Haji Da'ud a senior military commander for al-Shabaab. The final assessment of that operation concludes that Da’ud was struck and killed in the airstrike.
On May 31, a Somali National Army unit led a ground operation near Gaduud, Somalia, with the intent to capture extremists associated with al-Shabaab. An initial assessment of that operation by Somali authorities indicated that it resulted in the death of al-Shabaab member Mohammed Dulyadeen, also known as "Mohammed Kuno” and “Kuno Gamadere." Further assessment by U.S. forces also indicates that Dulyadeen was killed in the operation.
We are confident that the removal from the terrorist network of these two experienced al-Shabaab leaders will disrupt near-term attack planning, potentially saving many innocent lives.
U.S. forces remain committed to supporting the Federal Government of Somalia, the Somali National Army, and our African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) partners in defeating al-Shabaab and establishing a safe and secure environment in Somalia."