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Airwars Assessment
(Previous Incident Code: YEM283)
On December 20th 2017, US Central Command stated that a strike had killed Obeidah Al-Lawdari, AQAP’s so-called Emir of Lawda”, and four “associates” in Bayda governorate on October 19th 2017.
This announcement confirmed several earlier reports that a US drone strike had killed at least three alleged AQAP militants travelling in a car on or near the border of Mukayras and Sama’a districts, in Bayda governorate, before sunset on October 19th. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
Sources, including a pro-AQAP feed quoted by Dr Elisabeth Kendall (@Dr_E_Kendall), named the dead as AQAP leader Nayef Al-Damaji Abu Obeidah Al-Lawdari; Salah Hadi Al-Lawdari; Shuaib Al-Lawdari; Nader Al-Jaru; and Shamil Al-Jadani, also named by some as Shamil Al-Abyani.
Sources gave varying descriptions of the specific location of the strike. Most indicated that the attack took place in the Shurjan area – but disagreed on which side of the district border the strike fell. Some, including Al-Masdar Online, indicated the Shurjan area of Sama’a district, while @demolinari instead maintained that the strike took place in Shurjan, Mukayras, as the militants travelled between Shurjan and Dhi Hawra. Local sources told Marib Press that the strike took place in the Al-Khishna area of Sama’a.
Initial local language reports and Yemeni tribal leaders spoken with by Associated Press suggested that at least three alleged militants had died in the strike. Other local language reports, including Sky News Arabia, stated that four were killed immediately in the strike, with two sources – Telegraph Yemen and @barakish_net – suggesting that a total of six had died.
One source, @demolinari, tweeting a day after the strike, indicated that one person was not immediately killed but had died later, possibly accounting for the variance between several initial accounts and the CENTCOM tally.
According to Xinhua, a Yemeni security source indicated that the strike targeted militants as they moved “into their hideouts”, while @demolinari, indicated that those killed were “fleeing from advancing Security Belt forces”.
All of those named were reportedly from Abyan governorate. According to @demolinari, Nader Al-Jaru was from Mudiyah, and Shamil Al-Jadani was from Wadea, while the names of the three others indicated that they were from Lawdar.
In a statement, US Central Command said that Obeidah Al-Lawdari “had been known to provide equipment and money in support of AQAP attacks against [Saudi-led] Coalition forces, posing an increased threat to U.S. interests”.
A US spokesperson told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that this strike on October 19 brought the number of American strikes against AQAP in Yemen to over 110 during 2017. This total did not include the two strikes against Islamic State training camps, which marked the first time US forces had hit the group in Yemen.
Key Information
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck while travelling between the villages of Sharjan (شرجان) and Dhi Hawra (ذي حورة), in the Mukayras (مكيراس) district. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for the middle point between these two villages are: 14.010619, 45.813428

Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck while travelling between the villages of Sharjan (شرجان) and Dhi Hawra (ذي حورة).
Imagery: Google Earth
Military Statements
Media From Sources (11)
مراسلنا: مقتل 4 من عناصر تنظيم #القاعدة في غارة أميركية بطائرة من دون طيار في محافظة البيضاء#سكاي_أخبار
— سكاي نيوز عربية-عاجل (@SkyNewsArabia_B) October 19, 2017