Incident Code
Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Geolocation
Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
Between two and 47 alleged al-Shabaab militants were killed by declared US airstrikes or drone strikes near Xaradheere, Somalia approximately 396 km northeast of Mogadishu on January 23, 2023. There are no known reports of civilian casualties.
US AFRICOM released a statement that “at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia and in support of Somali National Army engagements against al-Shabaab, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense strike on Jan. 23, 2023. The strike occurred in a remote area near Xaradheere, Somalia, approximately 396 km northeast of Mogadishu where Somali forces were conducting operations. The initial assessment is the strike killed two al-Shabaab terrorists. Given the remote location of the operation, the initial assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed.”
Somaliland News quoted the federal government of Somalia who reported that at least 40 Alshabab members were killed in an airstrike at Beer Faarah Village, but did not specify “which partner has helped them with the airstrikes”. A tweet from @hormaar quoted General of Somalia’s Ground Forces, Gen. Mohamed Tahlil Bihi who said that operations in western Xaradheere resulted in the death of 47 al-Shabaab militants over a two day period.
Shabelle Media News reported that a second airstrike happened around Amara town to assist Somali National Army ground operations. The commander who told Shabelle about the second airstrike confirmed that there were casualties among al-Shabaab but could not determine how many yet.
According to Shabelle Media News, al-Shabaab ordered a local telecom company to turn off the phone network to prevent any more airstrikes from “foreign warplanes” (likely US).
AllAfrica News referred to the strike as being carried out by a “drone”, pointing out that the strike was part of the battle against al-Shabaab in Beer Faarah near Xaradheere, which was recently retaken by government forces.
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention the vicinity of the town of Xaradheere, for which the generic coordinates are: 4.655025, 47.856184. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.