Geolocation
Airwars assessment
Up to seven alleged AQAP militants were reportedly killed by a US drone strike in the Baihan district of Shabwa governorate, on July 6th 2018. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
A security official told AFP that a US drone had targeted a car driving along a side road in the area, killing seven suspected AQAP fighters. Tribal and local leaders reported the same, according to Associated Press, @horoofonline, and others. Twitter user @aseel_sarih, however, indicated that the strike had killed five.
It is possible that some listed sources instead referred to an earlier alleged US drone strike on July 4th 2018, also in Shabwa (USYEMTr172).
However, US Central Command told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism on July 11th that it had not conducted any strikes in Yemen so far in that month. And in an August 30th press release of recent actions in Yemen, CENTCOM made no mention of this date. This does not preclude either a CIA action, or a strike by the Saudi-led Coalition.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention a vehicle being struck in the Baihan (بيحان) district, within the Shabwa (شبوة) province. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Baihan are: 14.774219, 45.735397.