Alleged Yemeni or US strikes on Al Qaeda positions in north-eastern Zinjibar, Abyan province, allegedly killed 14 to 18 belligerents and injured dozens of others on 18 March 2012, sources said. There are currently no reports of civilian harm, though one source, Xinhua, stated that an anonymous Yemen official stated that “it was not clear whether there were any civilian casualties.” Additionally, an unnamed witness told Xinhua that the shelling demolished more than four houses in the center of Jaar city, forcing many people to flee their homes.

According to Dawn News, a local official reported that “many bases of Al Qaeda were destroyed,” and 16 jihadists were killed while Xinhua provided a higher casualty toll, stating that “at least 18 terrorists” were killed and dozens were injured, without specifying exactly how many were injured.

Reiterating this news, the Yemen Times also reported that heavy shelling had targeted fields and badly damaged crops: “We are not sure whether Yemeni aircraft or US unmanned drones are responsible for the airstrikes,” one farmer told the Yemen Times.

Reuters called the strike a “naval bombardment”, and the Long War Journal surmised that “If missiles were indeed fired from the sea (and we have no confirmation of this, only the word of an anonymous Yemeni official), then they were most likely fired by US Navy warships. The Yemeni Navy does not possess the capacity to conduct such strikes; its missile boats and corvettes fire only anti-ship missiles.”

Xinhua reported a local Yemen official as confirming it was a joint US Naval – Yemen Air Force offensive, but placed the naval bombardment at nearby Jaar.

The local time of the incident is unknown.