Airwars assessment
At least one drone strike, which one local-language Twitter source @A_GHALEB63, alleged to be American, reportedly targeted suspected AQAP militants in the Shibam district of Hadramout governorate, from November 3rd to November 4th 2018. No information was available on alleged casualties of the reported strikes.
Local residents told Aden News that they heard an explosion in the area, and sources suggested that a car was targeted. One source, @BaFana3, indicated that a series of explosions occurred before dawn, targeting “suspect characters, likely AQAP terrorists”.
In January 2019, US Central Command asserted that it carried out no actions at the time: “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 morning.
Summary
Sources (4) [ collapse]
Media
from 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.
United States Armed 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.