Geolocation
Airwars assessment
One or more US drone strikes reportedly killed at least six alleged AQAP militants between the towns of Al Khudra and Al Nabeeq, in the Beihan district of Shabwa governorate, on the afternoon of April 25th 2020. There were no known associated reports of civilian harm.
Yemeni tribal and security sources told Associated Press, on April 27th, that two US drone strikes in Beihan had killed at least six AQAP militants “in recent days”. Marib Today reported that three US strikes had been conducted in the area on that afternoon, and were preceded by the presence of US aircraft throughout the morning. However many sources mentioned only one strike.
A single social media post by @no_itsmyturn indicated that a drone strike by an unnamed belligerent had targeted Houthi positions in Beihan on the 25th, though it was not clear if this was the same event.
According to Associated Press, both the CIA and the US military declined to comment on the reported US strikes. US Central Command told Airwars that no US military strikes were conducted in Yemen during April 2020. It is, however, possible that an undeclared strike was conducted by the CIA, or as part of a clandestine US military action.
The incident occured in the afternoon.
Summary
Sources (18) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
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Though Twitter user @no_itsmyturn gave this source as evidence for a claim that strikes had targeted Houthi positions in Beihan, the source did not specifically identify the target (@no_itsmyturn, April 25th 2020)
Geolocation notes (2) [ collapse]
Reports of the incident mention the area between Al Khudra (الخدراء) and Al Nabeeq (النبيق), allegedly in the Beihan (بيحان) district of Shabwa (شبوة) governorate. Our research finds evidence of a clinic called Al Wahdah as Sihhiyah al Khadra (الوحدة الصحية الخدراء) and a hill called Jabal Khudra (جبل الخدراء), suggesting that Al Khudra is within the area, however, we find no mention of Al Nabeeq in the vicinity. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Jabal Khudra are: 14.87082, 45.75198.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
According to CENTCOM, there were no US military strikes during April 2020 in Yemen.