Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USYEMTr158

Incident date

March 22, 2018

Location

Al Rawda, Ma'rib, Yemen

Geolocation

15.448882, 45.345554 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

At least five alleged AQAP militants were reportedly killed by a US drone strike that targeted a house in the Rawdah area, south of Marib city, early on March 22nd 2018.  There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.

Yemeni tribal leaders told Associated Press that seven had been killed in the strike. Several local language sources including Facebook page @tarebhtoday and Erem News, as well as Sputnik News, similarly reported that seven had died, and indicated that drones had remained in the area in the aftermath of the strike.

A provincial security official told Xinhua, however, that “at least five” had died in the attack, which allegedly targeted a farm.

All but two sources suggested those killed were AQAP members. @Shalal_Gaman and @JmtfWYvkyAY9XjA, instead claimed that they were ISIS-affiliated militants, though similarity in wording indicated that the latter source may have been a bot copying the former.

A list of recent US military strikes provided by CENTCOM to the Long War Journal made no mention of an action on this date. This does not however preclude a CIA strike.

The incident occured around dawn.

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention a house being struck in the Al Rawda (الروضة) area, south of Ma’rib (مأرب) city. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Al Rawda are: 15.448882, 45.345554.

  • Reports of the incident mention a house being struck in the Al Rawda (الروضة) area, south of Ma’rib (مأرب) city.

    Imagery:
    Google Earth

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected targets
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), ISIS - Yemen
  • Belligerents reported killed
    5–7

Sources (29) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (1) [ collapse]

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • Suspected targets
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), ISIS - Yemen
  • Belligerents reported killed
    5–7

Sources (29) [ collapse]