Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USYEM142-N

Incident date

January 19, 2013

Location

وادي عبيدة, Wadi Abida, Ma'rib, Yemen

Geolocation

15.515556, 45.395278 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On January 19th 2013, between 7 and 10:30 pm, the first of three alleged US drone strikes in the Wadi Abidah region in al-Hatik in Marib struck an orange farm in the populated Al-Masil area in Al Dsaleel, Ra’ed Fadi Abdullah. There were no reported casualties, civilian or militant but according to eyewitnesses, the strike damaged neighbouring houses and caused panic in the population.

A tribal source speaking to Xinhua claimed that a vehicle parked in the orchard was the intended target of the strike but missed, and Mareb Press identified the car as being a Vitara car with suspected Al Qaeda militants.

Al Masdar Online reported that the strike caused damage to neighboring houses and caused great panic among the local populations, who blocked the Sanaa-Marib line to protest the strikes which were “shaking their homes and frightening the children”.

An official at the Criminal Investigation Unit in Marib told Xinhua the strike hit at 10.30pm while Yemen Observer referred to the strike as occurring at 7pm.

Local sources referred to the drone strikes as being carried out by the US. The Yemen defence ministry reportedly confirmed the strikes hit Mareb province but would not confirm if the Yemen Air Force or US forces carried out the attacks. The Yemen Air Force has been shown to lack the technical capacity to launch precision strikes, or fly at night.

This incident was identified by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and has been included in Airwars’ database even though no casualties are mentioned.

The incident occured between 7:00 pm and 10:30 pm local time.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck in the Wadi Obeida (وادي عبيدة) area, east of Mar’ib (مأرب) city. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Wadi Obeida are: 15.515556, 45.395278.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)

Sources (57) [ collapse]

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)

Sources (57) [ collapse]