Airwars assessment
On the 9th of February, 2024, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) conducted an airstrike against Al-Shabaab near the village of Yaq Dabel, located to the west of the city of Kismayo in Lower Juba, Somalia. AFRICOM released a statement on the 14th of February regarding the strike which made reference to an initial post-strike assessment that two Al-Shabaab militants had been killed in the attack and that no civilians had been injured or killed. The statement from AFRICOM classified the attack as a “collective self-defense airstrike” and added that the strike itself consisted of five separate ‘engagements’.
The airstrike was reported by several different media outlets including the Ethiopian Addis Standard, Garowe Online, and Antiwar.com. Antiwar.com noted that this was the first known U.S. airstrike in Somalia for the month of February, whilst adding contextual information about the U.S supported Somali campaign against Al-Shabaab.
Independent journalist Zakeriye Azmed also posted a statement regarding the strike online via X/Twitter containing information from the AFRICOM statement, whilst observing that Somali armed forces had conducted an operation against militants in the same area just days before, according to Somali state media.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (5) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]
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Source: @addisstandard
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense airstrike with five engagements against the al Shabaab terrorist group on Feb. 9.
The collective self-defense airstrike occurred in a remote area in the vicinity of Yaq Dabel, Somalia.
The initial post-strike assessment indicates that the U.S. airstrike killed two al Shabaab terrorists and that no civilians were harmed.
U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this airstrike and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operational security.
Al Shabaab is the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces and threaten U.S. security interests. U.S. Africa Command, alongside its partners, continues to take action to prevent this malicious terrorist group from planning and conducting attacks on civilians.
Somalia remains key to the security environment in East Africa. U.S. Africa Command's forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to give them the tools that they need to degrade al Shabaab.
U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, with partners, counters malign actors and transnational threats, responds to crises, and strengthens security forces in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity.