Geolocation
Airwars assessment
An alleged Yemeni strike on a suspected Al Qaeda training camp in the Modia district, Abyan province on March 15th 2010 killed up to 20 civilians, according to local media. This strike came a day after another strike on the Modia district on March 14th (USYEM010-B).
Al Jazeera reported that local officials stated that security forces launched three raids in the southern province of Abyan, including the Modia district.
Local residents told AFP that the attacks on consecutive days had caused an unspecified number of civilian casualties. A Reuters report reported that residents told Reuters that up to 20 civilians may have been killed in the attacks on the Abyan province. References to civilian casualties do not specify whether they occurred during the March 14th strikes (USYEM010-B) or on the March 15th strikes.
The AFP report stated: “Yemen’s air force launched a second successive day of air strikes on Monday, targeting a suspected A-Qaeda training camp in the same area, the defence ministry said. A brief ministry statement said the raids were carried out in Moudia, but did not confirm whether anyone was killed or wounded in the latest strike. “Furthermore AFP clarified that Jet fighters flew over the province, which is dominated by southern separatists.”
However, a security official, who asked not to be named, “said the disfigured remains of those killed in the strikes had been transported to the capital for DNA testing, and suggested the death toll could be as high as nine people.”
AFP went on to say that “Moudia residents AFP reached by telephone alleged the raids caused civilian casualties, but fell short of giving figures. Some said they fled their homes in fear of being targeted by the strikes.”
The incident occured in the morning.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the Moudia (مودية) district, for which the generic coordinates are: 13.948639, 46.202048. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.