Geolocation
Airwars assessment
A single source, Aden News, suggested that US airstrikes had targeted AQAP sites in the Shibam district of Hadramout governorate, on the evening of November 2nd 2018.
Aden News reported the following: “Urgent: Explosion on the express line of the Shibam Hadramout Directorate and citizens talk about a drone strike. Local residents in the Shibam district of Hadramout governorate – east of Yemen – said that they heard a violent explosion shortly before in the district. The residents confirmed that the preliminary information indicates a drone strike that targeted a car of what is believed to be carrying Al-Qaeda operatives in the direct line of the directorate. And American planes had launched Friday evening raids targeting the alleged sites of al-Qaeda in the vicinity of Shibam district, according to local sources.”
There were no further known public reports of strikes at that time, and no information on alleged casualties was available.
In January 2019, US Central Command asserted that it conducted no actions in November 2018: “No strikes were conducted in Yemen in October, November, and December.” This may not however preclude a CIA or Saudi-led Coalition action.
The incident occured in the evening.
Summary
Sources (2) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the Shibam (شبام) district, for which the generic coordinates are: 15.905503, 48.652311. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
TAMPA, Fla. - U.S. Central Command conducted 36 total air strikes in Yemen
in 2018, targeting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS-Yemen.
CENTCOM conducted 10 air strikes in January targeting both AQAP and
ISIS-Yemen, six air strikes against AQAP in February, seven air strikes
against AQAP in March and four airstrikes against AQAP in April.
CENTCOM conducted two air strikes in May, two air strikes in June, two air
strikes in July, one air strike in August, and two air strikes in September,
all targeting AQAP terrorists.
No strikes were conducted in Yemen in October, November, and December.
The air strikes took place in Abyan, al Bayda, Hadramawt, Shabwah and Zamakh
governorates.