(Previous Incident Code: YEMT093-C)

A reported US drone strike targeted a minibus in Al Rawda neighbourhood, in the Wadi Ubaida area of Marib governorate, on the afternoon of August 3rd 2017. Several sources suggested that the strike targeted AQAP militants in the bus, killing three, though others indicated that as many as two civilians were killed and four injured, reportedly including two children.

An on-the-ground reporter indicated to Reprieve that a drone strike had hit a bus filled with people, killing two children and a third badly-burned person who could not be identified.  Reprieve shared their findings on this strike with Airwars. CENTCOM confirmed to Reprieve that it did conduct a strike in Marib on August 3rd; since there were no other known reported strikes on that day, this event is treated as declared.

According to an Al-Masdar Online correspondent at the scene, the strike targeted the bus while it was parked outside a house, killing the driver and injuring two of his children (both of whom were inside the house at the time), with shrapnel.  Reported photos of the scene also indicated that the vehicle was destroyed while parked outside a house.

Al-Masdar also reported that no information was available about the dead man, making it unclear whether he was a civilian or belligerent.

Al Araby reported that “at least one” suspected AQAP militant was killed in the strike, possibly referring to the driver of the bus. Others suggested that three alleged AQAP militants were killed in the strike.

One source, Belqees, suggested that two civilians were killed and four injured by the “remnants of a ballistic missile” intercepted over Marib city, rather than a drone strike, according to “witnesses”. However, images of the destroyed vehicle indicated that it had been directly targeted.

To reflect these competing claims, Airwars has assessed that a minimum of two civilians were injured in the blast, reflecting the reports of injured children, with a maximum of four. A minimum of one reported civilian death has been set, to reflect the possibility that the driver was a civilian, with a maximum of three, including two children.  A minimum of one militant death has been set, with a maximum of three.

In its May 2018 annual civilian casualty report, the US Department of Defense stated that “there were credible reports of civilian casualties caused by U.S. military actions in Yemen against AQAP and ISIS during 2017”, but did not specify which specific actions these reports referred to. Overall, the Department of Defense assessed that there were credible reports of “approximately 499 civilians killed and approximately 169 civilians injured during 2017”, as a result of US military actions in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen.

Responding to Airwars’ publication of its Yemen dataset and accompanying report in October 2020, CENTCOM dismissed all but two civilian harm claims under President Trump, asserting that “USCENTCOM conducted a thorough review of the information AirWars provided regarding allegations of potential civilian harm caused by USCENTCOM strikes in Yemen from 2017-2020… The bulk of the information asserted by AirWars, however, did not correspond with dates and locations of U.S. military strikes or raids in Yemen.   Other AirWars allegations either did not allege civilian harm or were not assessed as credible upon our review.”