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Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Codes: YEM029USYEM033)
On September 21 2011, alleged US airstrikes on the town of Shaqra in Yemen’s southern Abyan province killed six to seven alleged AQAP militants. One outlet, AFP, stated that three alleged militants were injured in the strike. There are no reported cases of civilian harm.
Aden Online and Long War Journal put the number of alleged militants killed at seven, whereas AFP put the number at six. AFP was the only outlet to report that militants were injured in the strikes.
The outlet Aden Online claimed the strikes were carried out by American warplanes while others, such as Neoclassical Blog citing the news outlet Al Arabiya, stated that the strikes were conducted by US drones. Long War Journal reported that when they contacted the US for comment, the US military officials “would not comment on airstrikes, but said US forces are supporting Yemeni forces”.
The strike in Al-Shaqra corresponded with others throughout Abyan, including the town of Al-Mahfad, where numerous sources claimed that US strikes killed four alleged AQAP militants (USYEM037-B).
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention the village of Shaqra (شقرة), for which the generic coordinates are: 13.356639, 45.699426. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.