Incident Code

USSOM134

Location

Jawaari, Middle Juba, Somalia

Geolocation

1.553437, 42.471596
Accuracy: District

Airwars Assessment

Last Updated: December 15, 2024

(Previous Incident Code: SOM100C)

An airstrike near the village of Jawaari was variously blamed on US and Kenyan forces.

Mareeg, a Somali news outlet, reported a strike by unidentified jets which it said had potentially killed eight members of al Shabaab. The terror group itself reportedly denied that any of its fighters were killed.

The source of Mareeg’s information was a tweet from Harun Maruf, a journalist with VOA. Maruf said the strike hit near Jawaari village in Somalia’s Middle Jubba region during the night of July 10th-11th.

While Mareeg said the jets were unidentified, Maruf initially said it was a suspected US strike. US Africa Command nevertheless reportedly told Mareeg no strikes have been carried out in Somalia since early June. The reporter later noted that “According to Pro-Al-Shabab media, Kenya military jets carried out the strikes that took place near Jawaari village.”

Intelligence Briefs also reported that the Kenyan Air Force had conducted its first long range airstrike on the town: “The Kenya Air Force (KAF), conducted a long range airstrike that killed 13 Al-Shabaab militants in Jawaari village, Middle Jubba region on July 10. This is the 1st indicator that the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) are at advanced stages of conducting operations to strike and destroy Jiliib, the headquarters of the terror group. The terrorists operating base was completely decimated.

The airstrike targeted the Al-Qaeda branch in Somalia, Harakat Al-Shabaab Mujahideen Movement, a rag tag Islamist terror group’s intelligence and militant operations coordination operations base situated a brief distance outside Jawaari.”

Key Information

Country
Military Actor
Strike Type
Airstrike
Strike Status
Likely strike
Civilian Harm Reported
No
Causes of Death / Injury
Heavy weapons and explosive munitions

Geolocation Notes

Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place near the village of Jawaari in the Middle Juba region. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to locate the village Jawaari. The generic coordinates for the Middle Juba region are: 1.553437, 42.471596.

Military Statements

U.S. Forces Assessment
Suspected belligerent
U.S. Forces
U.S. Forces position on incident
Not yet assessed
Kenyan Military Forces Assessment
Suspected belligerent
Kenyan Military Forces
Kenyan Military Forces position on incident
Not yet assessed

Media From Sources (2)