Airwars assessment
A US strike in Bayda governorate killed two AQAP militants on November 19th 2017, a US Central Command spokesperson told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. This confirmed local reports that a US drone strike had killed at least three alleged AQAP militants in Yakla, in the Wald Rabi area of Bayda governorate, on that evening. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
Multiple local-language sources, including Adengad and @tarebhtoday, reported that, according to locals, the strike targeted an area “near an ISIS camp” in the area, though none suggested that ISIS members had been killed. Others, such as Hour News, suggested that the area was itself home to an AQAP “site”. Both terror organisations had previously been targeted in the area.
While most suggested that three were killed in the strike, @7adramout_net reported that four “from Al Qaeda” had died. Another Twitter source, @demolinari, named one of those killed as Abdullah Hassan Abdullah Nuba Al-Ateeqi.
The incident occured in the evening.
Summary
Sources (13) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention training camps being struck in the vicinity of Yakla (يكلا) village, within the Wald Rabi district (بمديرية ولد ربيع). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Yakla are: 14.598056, 45.060000.
United States Armed Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
Jess,
This is the most current CENTCOM information on strikes against AQAP and ISIS in Yemen.
· One strike against ISIS in al-Bayda Governorate, Yemen, Nov. 26. killing three terrorists.
· One strike against AQAP in Shabwah Governorate, Yemen, Nov. 25 killing seven terrorists.
· One strike against ISIS in al-Bayda Governorate, Yemen, Nov. 23, killing two terrorists.
· Two strikes against AQAP in al-Bayda Governorate, Yemen, Nov. 19-20. The strikes killed two AQAP terrorists Nov. 19 and five terrorists on Nov 20.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
MAJ Brown
CENTCOM Media Operations