Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A series of three alleged US bombing raids killed at least two militants and destroyed numerous vehicles in the in the Shakra area on May 10, 2022. There were no reports of civilian harm.
According to almotamar.net, the Al Qaeda site in the Shakra area that was struck in the air strikes was used to store military vehicles, and the raid resulted in the destruction of a military kit in addition to a second vehicle that was controlled by the organization’s members earlier.
This attack was corroborated by almotamar.net through Yemeni military officials, however Al Qaeda released a statement that said four militants were killed and none of them were leaders of the terror group – it is unclear whether the casualties they are referring to occurred in this incident or the strikes that were launched against Jaar the same day (USYEM074-B).
The New York Times reported that two airstrikes in Jaar and Shaqra killed seven militants and two militants respectively. However, Yemen Observer identified four Al Qaeda militants as being killed by a US drone in the area “of Al Mashro in Shaqrah, 50 km east of Zinjibar”, including Kheldoon Al Sayed, the second man in Abyan after the Emir Al Khadir Hussein Al Jadani (who some sources said was killed in Jaar in USYEM074-B)
These strikes came almost concurrently with an attack that killed eight militants in a home in Jaar (USYEM074-B). Washington did not immediately state if American drones were responsible for any of these attacks, but Yemeni officials, speaking on anonymity, noted that American drones were the only type of aircraft in the area with the capability to carry out such assaults.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the area Al Mashro in the town of Shaqra (شُقرة), 50 km east of Zinjibar. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location of the Al Mashro area. However, the coordinates for the town of Shaqra (شُقرة) are: 13.356639, 45.699426.