Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A US strike killed “several” al Shabaab fighters in the seventh aerial attack in Somalia in six days.
Lower Shabelle’s deputy governor told Voice of America the strike had killed six al Shabaab fighters in the village of Idow Jalad.
A statement from US Africa Command said the strike was carried out “in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia” and hit at approximately 1800 local time in an area about 60 miles northwest of Mogadishu.
A subsequent FOIA response obtained by investigative reporter Nick Turse revealed that the strike had taken place in the vicinity of Leego, against “al Shabaab fighters.”
The incident occured at approximately 6:00 pm local time.
Summary
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Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Defense One published a map on November 15th 2017, locating recent US drone strikes against both al Shabaab and ISIS
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the village of Idow Jalad, 60 miles northwest of Mogadishu and 30km away from Wanla Weyn. A subsequent FOIA response pointed to the vicinity of Leego as the location of the strike. The coordinates for Leego are: 2.71437, 44.50902. Due to limited information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location of Idow Jalad. Another report mentions the following: “We killed 15 of them and captured Yaq Buraweyne, Madah Marodi and Idow Jalad villages”, suggesting that these villages are close. Yaq Buraweyne and Madah Marodi are indeed located between Leego and Wanla Weyn, suggesting that Idow Jalad must be in the same area. The coordinates for this area are: 2.673919, 44.635426.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
"In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike in Somalia against al-Shabaab on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at approximately 6 p.m. local Somalia time, killing several militants.
The operation occurred 60 miles northwest of the capital, Mogadishu."