Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Three possible AQAP militants were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in the Rumaila area, in the Marib district of Marib governorate, at around 7:30pm on May 15th 2018.
Sadam Al-Adwar, a human rights activist, tweeted that the strike had targeted a motorcycle in the area: “At 7:30pm, today is a drone strike targeting 3 people riding a motorbike in the asphalt in the Rumaila district, Wadi District, Governorate #مأرب#اليمن . On my way through the accident scene, I saw 3 charred bodies, the bike parts were still burning, and the asphalt was not hurt, despite the force of the explosion.”#
While some sources described the victims only as ‘people’, others claimed they were alleged Al qaeda fighters. One source claimed the attack was “6 meters away from the Al-Ahmar Army of the Islamic Red State”.
There were no known direct reports of civilian harm.
CENTCOM has publicly declared only one strike in Yemen during May 2018, which it says took place on May 14th in Shabwa governorate. It is therefore possible either that this this attack was conducted either by the CIA, or by the Saudi-led Coalition.
The incident occured at approximately 7:30 pm local time.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck in the Rumaila (الرُميله) area, allegedly east of Ma’rib (مأرب) city. One source, @houdhoud, mentions the Jo Al Naseem (جو النسيم) village, suggesting therefore that the Rumaila area is within that general vicinity. However, due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Jo Al Naseem are: 15.46624, 45.36725.