Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USSOM279a

Incident date

February 21, 2020

Location

سااكوو, Saakow, Middle Juba, Somalia

Geolocation

1.637795, 42.452829 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

In an event not publicly disclosed at the time, US Africa Command conducted a strike in the vicinity of Saakow on February 21st, which it later said “did not result in any terrorist deaths, injuries or damage to equipment and infrastructure. Nor did we assess any civilians were killed or injured.”

The strike came to light, along with two others, when Voice of America said in early March that it had been notified of 25 airstrikes to date in Somalia in 2020 – while official records showed only 23 declared strikes. In response to a query from Airwars, an official noted by email:

“The following strikes are missing from your list up to March 10, 2020:

February 1–IVO Jilib

Feb 3–IVO Jilib

Feb 21–IVO Saakow

The three strikes that occurred Feb. 1, 3, and 21 did not result in any terrorist deaths, injuries or damage to equipment and infrastructure. Nor did we assess any civilians were killed or injured. All three strikes were against the al-Shabaab violent extremist organization, to include terrorists or infrastructure. As a matter of policy, we do not discuss the specifics on targeting.”

No additional information is presently known about this event.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Known attacker
    US Forces
  • Known target
    Al-Shabaab

Sources (1) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention a strike on a compound in the vicinity of Saakow (سااكوو) town, for which due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.  The generic coordinates for Saakow are: 1.637795, 42.452829

US Forces Assessment:

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

Original strike reports

US Forces

[VIA email]
"The following strikes are missing from your list up to March 10, 2020:

        February 1--IVO Jilib

        Feb 3--IVO Jilib

        Feb 21--IVO Saakow

The three strikes that occurred Feb. 1, 3, and 21 did not result in any terrorist deaths, injuries or damage to equipment and infrastructure. Nor did we assess any civilians were killed or injured. All three strikes were against the al-Shabaab violent extremist organization, to include terrorists or infrastructure. As a matter of policy, we do not discuss the specifics on targeting."

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Known attacker
    US Forces
  • Known target
    Al-Shabaab

Sources (1) [ collapse]