Airwars assessment
In an incident not originally declared publicly, AFRICOM officials later confirmed to Airwars that they had conducted a strike against al Shabaab in the lower Shabelle – for which they did not report either any militant or any civilian harm.
Public Affairs Current Operations Branch Chief, Desiree Frame, told Airwars by email dated October 4th that “in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, AFRICOM conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab equipment near Ugungi, Lower Shabelle, Somalia on Sept. 24. At this time it is assessed this airstrike struck one al-Shabaab associated vehicle.”
No additional public information is currently available for this event.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (1) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention that the strike took place near the village Ugungi, for which the coordinates are: 1.87348, 44.72262. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
United States Armed Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, AFRICOM conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab equipment near Ugungi, Lower Shabelle, Somalia on Sept. 24. At this time it is assessed this airstrike struck one al-Shabaab associated vehicle.