A suspected airstrike in a field outside Bariire, a village 30 miles west of Mogadishu, killed three boys and left one woman injured, according to The National.

Journalist Amanda Sperber met Halimo Mohamed Abdi, a herder who was injured in the action:

“The blast broke both her hips, left shrapnel embedded in her thigh, and caused terrible burns that cost her both breasts. Before she lost consciousness, she told me, she saw three boys—ages 9, 10, and 16—die in the explosion, which occurred at night in a field outside Bariire, a village 30 miles west of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. She also said the strike came from the sky and that afterward she had to be hospitalized for three months.”

Halimo said she didn’t follow the Western calendar, but that the event was about two weeks before Eid al-Fitr, which began on June 14th in 2018.

US Africa Command had stated in a press release that it conducted an airstrike 30 miles southwest of Mogadishu on May 31st, that it said killed 12 terrorists – which is presently recorded by Airwars as another event. Due to the lack of clarity regarding the date of this incident, it is not clear whether these are referring to the same incidents. The date range for this event has been set at May 29th to June 3rd.

AFRICOM has not released details of any other airstrikes that match the date range or location given by Halimo. The US along with Kenya are the only countries known to be conducting airstrikes in this region of Somalia. Ms Sperber has suggested that the strike may also not match AFRICOM’s records because it could potentially be a CIA action.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM  confirmed it had struck what it says were “al-Shabaab Fighters”, in the vicinity of Merka District, Somalia. This appears most likely to relate to the other reported (and confirmed) US event on May 31st

The incident occured during the night.