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Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Codes: YEM129 USYEM148 )
On June 1st, 2013, six to eight suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed and two to three others were injured in a series of two alleged US drone strikes or Yemeni airstrikes against two vehicles in the Al-Mahfad district in Abyan Province in the morning. No civilian harm has been reported.
@yakfee reported the lowest number of militants killed at six people whereas multiple sources including Reuters and Marsad Press reported that seven militants were killed. @_mutfani added that a leader of AQAP died in the attack too. Al Jazeera and UPI recorded that eight members died, providing the highest estimate.The airstrike hit two pickup trucks that were carrying the militants. Although none of the identities of the militants could be confirmed, Mohammad bin Mohammed, head of the Intelligence Department in Abyan rumored that Awadh Ali Lakra, a leading figure of Al Qaeda in Abyan, was in one of the vehicles and may have been killed. UPI noted that the bodies of the militants “were charred” and therefore identification may have been more difficult.
Between two and three militants were wounded as Marsad Press and the Washington Post provided the lowest estimate and Xinhua provided the highest estimate. A local official said that the wounded were seen being carried to medical facilities by other Al Qaeda members.
The drone strikes were allegedly carried out by US drones according to local Twitter sources as well as the Long War Journal. La Prensasa noted that the strikes were consistent with similar US drone strikes in the area. Furthermore, Mohammad bin Mohammed could not confirm the nature of the strike but agreed that it was similar to previous American drone strikes. Additionally, Rashid Al-Janad, the Commander of Yemen’s Air Force told the Yemen Times that he was “unaware of any strikes that had been launched” by the Yemeni government. Similarly, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Qaed, a security officer operating at the Aviation Brigade at Al-A’nd Air Base, reported that no air raids had been undertaken in the previous two days. However, Marsdad Press quoted a local official who claimed the Yemeni air force carried out the strikes.
There were two drone strikes which occurred within half an hour of each other and were said to have occurred in the morning according to @Alaaslam without more specific details.
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention the subdistrict of Al Mahfad (المحفد), for which the generic coordinates are: 14.035477, 46.735870. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.