Geolocation
Airwars assessment
The US conducted “a self-defence strike against al Shabaab, killing three” in southern Somalia, describing the action as having “provided defensive fires to protect U.S. troops from imminent threats posed by the terrorist group al-Shabaab.”
A statement from US Africa Command (Africom) issued at the time said “the operation was conducted after it was assessed the terrorists were planning and preparing to conduct an imminent attack against US forces.”
Writing about the incident, The Hill noted that “There are about 50 U.S. forces on the ground in Somalia, in support of partner forces fighting al-Shabab militants. The strike comes amid a new assessment by IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre that said over the course of 2015 and 2016, al-Shabab has “been expanding capabilities and increasing the tempo of attacks.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (3) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident only mention that the strike took place in South-central Somalia, for which the generic coordinates are: 3.170679, 44.588176. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
"On June 21, 2016 in southern Somalia U.S. forces conducted a self-defense strike against al-Shabaab, killing three. The operation was conducted after it was assessed the terrorists were planning and preparing to conduct an imminent attack against U.S. forces."