Two Cuban doctors, general medicine specialist Assel Herrera and surgeon Landy Rodriguez, were reportedly killed in a declared U.S. airstrike (possibly drone strike) conducted around 12:05am on the 15th of February 2024 in the town of Jilib, in the region of Middle Juba, Somalia. The militant group Al-Shabaab stated via Telegram that it had captured the two doctors on the 12th of April, 2019 in Kenya and further claimed that they were killed in an airstrike conducted by AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) which had struck a house in Jilib. The statement from Al-Shabaab also contained two photos which claimed to show the dead body of one of the two doctors.

A CNN report on the incident, dated the 17th of February, quoted a response from AFRICOM spokeswoman Lennea Montandon who said that “the command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as available”. VOA News (Voice of America) reported on the 19th of February that Montandon did confirm that “an airstrike was conducted against Al-Shabaab on February 15th near Jilib”. Montandon also acknowledged that AFRICOM was “aware of reports of a strike alleged to have killed two civilians”. However, she added that there was “no further information” regarding the allegations. Furthermore, the report from CNN quoted an unnamed ‘U.S. defense official’ who “said that there was no credible evidence that there were any civilian casualties in the strike”.

AFRICOM released an official statement on the 28th of February that “In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command carried out an airstrike against the al-Shabaab terrorist group near Jilib, Somalia, on Feb. 15. U.S. Africa Command has assessed that one al-Shabaab militant was injured in this operation. The command is aware of the reports made by al-Shabaab of civilian casualties related to this strike. The command takes all reports of civilian casualties seriously. The command is conducting a review and will provide additional information as available.”

The strike was widely reported by a variety of media outlets. These included Anadolu Agency whose reporting, on the 17th of February, focused on the initial statement released by Al-Shabaab and the response from the Somali Ministry of Defense. Anadolu Agency’s report included the claim by Al-Shabaab that the US had been “deliberately targeting the prisoners for several months”.

Moreover, a series of online posts quoting the contents of the Al-Shabaab statement were made online by the Somali Guardian via X/Twitter, Caribbean News UK, and independent journalist Zakeriye Axmed, in addition to CTNSIS: a strategic counter-terrorism intelligence briefing service with a focus on East and Central Africa.

One article on the strike by Kenyans.co.ke, dated February 18th, reported the reaction of the Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel and the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry, who initially stressed the fact that the deaths of Assel Herrera and Landy Rodriguez, at the time, remained unconfirmed – a sentiment also repeated in a tweet posted by the Cuban embassy on February 18th. However, a tweet from @SomaliGuardian reported that “Cuban Ministry of Health contacts of families of two doctors held hostage by Al-Shabaab in #Somalia to inform them that they have been killed in an aerial bombardment”.

The report by Kenyans.co.ke contextually noted that the two doctors “came to Kenya following a 2017 health exchange programme where Cuban doctors arrived in the country to help fill gaps in county hospitals”. On the 17th of February, Garowe Online observed that there had been “concerted efforts to rescue the doctors including behind-the-scenes meetings involving government officials in Somalia, clan elders, Al-Shabaab, and the governments of Cuba and Kenya”.

In their Civilian Casualty Assessment Report; 2nd Quarter, FY2024, released in June 2024 US AFRICOM denied that their strike resulted in civilian harm, stating that “On Feb. 17, 2024, the command received one (1) report from an online media source stating two (2) civilians were killed as a result of a U.S. military operation in the vicinity of Jilib, Somalia, on Feb. 15, 2024. The command completed a review of available information and assessed that the U.S. airstrike conducted on Feb 15, 2024 did not result in civilian harm.”

In reaction to AFRICOM denying the civilian harm, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on X/Twitter that the US report “adds nothing new,”and that officials in Cuba have been waiting since April “for an inquiry that #Cuba officially requested about AFRICOM attacks” elsewhere in Somalia.

The incident occured at approximately 12:05 am local time.