Geolocation
Airwars assessment
In an email to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a US Central Command spokesperson stated that three strikes had been conducted against AQAP in Al Bayda governorate on September 9th 2017.
Multiple sources reported that one strike took place in the village of Qareidah (USYEMTr100) on that day, while two munitions reportedly targeted a single location in the Al-Saru area (USYEMTr098-C), potentially accounting for the three declared US actions.
However, USYEMTr098-C appeared to constitute a “double tap” strike, wherein persons responding to an initial strike were targeted by a secondary munition release, which the US military often understands to be a single strike event.
It is therefore possible that a further declared action took place in Bayda on September 9th. This event has been created to account for this possibility. No known sources reported an additional strike on that day.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the Al Bayda (البيضاء) governorate, for which the generic coordinates are: 14.313489, 45.305892. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
Summary
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
U.S. forces conducted three strikes against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Al Bayda Governorate, Yemen, killing several Al Qaeda terrorists on Sep. 9.
In coordination with the government of Yemen, U.S. forces are conducting a series of sustained counterterrorism operations in Yemen against AQAP to degrade the group's ability to hold territory and coordinate external terror attacks.
Additionally, this year, the U.S. has conducted more than 100 strikes against AQAP militants, infrastructure, fighting positions and equipment.