Geolocation
Airwars assessment
The US military carried out an airstrike in Somalia on February 25th that killed 20 terrorists, according to a press release from US Africa Command.
US Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Hadfield, AFRICOM deputy director of intelligence, said in the released statement: “This precision airstrike successfully targeted an encampment from which al-Shabaab could stage, coordinate, and execute attacks on Beledweyne.
The training camp that was targeted was used as a staging area to facilitate attacks on Beledweyne in the Hiran region of Somalia.”
US Africa Command said it currently assessed that no civilians were harmed in the attack. A vehicle was also destroyed in the airstrike, it said.
Heavy fighting was locally reported the night before the declared strike between Somali forces and al Shabaab fighters, between “Beledweyne and Mahas town”.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (7) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention that the strike ‘a location assessed to be an al-Shabaab training camp that was used as a staging area used to facilitate attacks on Beledweyne’, in the vicinity of a village called Shebeeley, for which the coordinates are: 4.71542, 45.21618. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
"In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces targeted al-Shabaab militants, in the vicinity of Shebeeley, Hiran Region, Somalia, on February 25, 2019, to degrade its ability to plan and execute attacks against the Somali people."