Incident Code
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Incident Date
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Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: YEMT030)
Multiple sources reported that a US drone strike on the evening of March 3rd 2017 targeted Sheikh Abdulilah al-Dhahab and four of his guards, all of whom were alleged to be AQAP militants, while they were travelling in Marib governorate. Some sources suggested that the strike took place on the outskirts of Marib, the capital of Marib governorate. There were no known reports of civilian harm.
Sources reported that al-Dhahab’s four guards were killed in the attack, but differed over whether al-Dhahab survived. Some suggested that he was injured in the strike, while others indicated that he was killed alongside his guards.
In January 2019, PBS Frontline published an interview with Abdulilah al-Dhahab, demonstrating that he had indeed survived this strike. Accounting for this, reported militant deaths have been set at four, with one reported injury.
Al-Dhahab was allegedly the target of two previous US strikes from March 2nd to March 3rd, both of which reportedly targeted his residence in Yakla, Bayda governorate. The second strike, which took place overnight from March 2nd-3rd, reportedly killed three of his extended family. Al-Dhahab was also a survivor of a US (and allegedly Emirati) ground raid on January 29th 2017 (USYEMTr006-C), which resulted in the deaths of at least twenty civilians, including eleven children. Reportedly amongst the dead were several relatives of Abdulilah al-Dhahab, including his son Nasser; his niece Nawar al-Awlaki; and two of his brothers, alleged AQAP militants Sultan and Abd-al-Ra’uf al-Dhahab. Multiple sources, however, disputed that the latter two were affiliated with AQAP, instead suggesting that they were instead involved with the pro-Hadi militia forces.
This strike allegedly took place amid a dramatic intensification of US operations against AQAP in March 2017. A US military intelligence source told NBC News that the strikes beginning March 2nd were “part of ‘new directives’ to aggressively pursue the Dhahab and Qayfa clans”.
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck in the vicinity of Ma’rib (مَأْرِب) city, for which, due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The coordinates for Ma’rib are: 15.469832, 45.325818
Military Statements
Media From Sources (3)
US drone strike targeted the vehicle of #AQAP leader and #Bayda Qayfa tribal sheikh Abdul Ilah Al-Dhahab in #Marib. #Yemen
— demolinari (@demolinari) March 3, 2017
#مأرب_الأن
— الشيخ بن نايف (@mokarm2015) March 3, 2017
طائره بدون طيار تستهدف بغاره سيارة القيادي / #عبدالإله_الذهب ومقتل 4 من مرافقية بأطراف مأرب