Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USSOM223

Incident date

May 13, 2019

Location

Buusaar, Gedo, Somalia

Geolocation

2.67191, 41.32213 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Local sources alleged that a night time airstrike by an unknown party had targeted al Shabaab at Buusaar in Gedo.

According to Ilwared, “Reports reaching us from Gedo region in southern Somalia say that military planes carried out airstrikes last night as residents told Radio Kulmiye. The planes were reportedly targeting Al-Shabaab bases in Buusar, Gedo region. Several missiles are said to have hit the bases as residents told us.”

Airwars can find no record of a report by Radio Kulmiye for this event.

Asked whether it had been responsible for this event, in February 2020 a senior AFRICOM official told Airwars that this was not the case. However, this may not preclude actions by the CIA which conducts its own undeclared strikes in Somalia.

The incident occured during the night.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention that the strike targeted an Al Shabaab base in the village of Busaar, for which the coordinates are: 2.67191, 41.32213. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab

Sources (3) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (2) [ collapse]

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Single source claim
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al-Shabaab

Sources (3) [ collapse]