The militant organization Al-Shabaab claimed that U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) had conducted an airstrike against the terrorist network on 22nd of September, 2023. The group alleged that the airstrike, carried out in the Wajid district of Bakool in southwestern Somalia, had reportedly killed eight civilians, including six children. However, the Somalia government declared their responsibility for the same strike which they reported had killed eight members of Al-Shabaab, including leader Isaaq Abdullahi.
On September 24th, freelance journalist Zakeriye Ahmed tweeted the full Al-Shabaab statement on the strike which stated that at 9:20am on the 22nd September, US airstrikes killed three generations of the Sheikh Ishaaq family near Buurdhuhunie, Bakool after bombing their homes outside of the village, and provided the identities of those killed: Jawaahir Sheikh Ishaaq Abdullah – 3 years old, Fathi Sheikh Ishaaq Abdullah – 4 years old, Asma Sheikh Ishaaq Abdullah – 5 years old, Hafsa Sheikh Ishaaq Abdullah – 7 years old, Wiilo Isaaq Ahmed (mother of the four children listed before), Fadumo Ibrahim (grandmother of the four children listed before), Juweyriyah Abdullah – 4 years old, Zaynab Abdi Abdullah – 14 years old. Based on their names, it seems possible that they could be related to the Al-Shabaab leader Isaaq Abdullahi who was reportedly killed in the attack. The statement also accused the US military of repeatedly using cluster munitions in residential areas. However, a senior U.S. defense official, speaking to VOA News correspondent Carla Babb, stated that no U.S. airstrikes were conducted in Somalia on the day in question.
Xinhua News, on the 22nd of September, reported that the Somali National Army (SNA) had stated that “its forces killed eight al-Shabaab terrorists including one of the group’s leaders in an airstrike in the southwestern region of Bakool”. The Xinhua report elaborated on claims made by the Somali Ministry of Defense that the airstrike had specifically targeted and killed Al-Shabaab leader Isaaq Abdullahi and his seven bodyguards “as they planned to carry out attacks in the area”.
On the same day, Garowe Online similarly reported on the Somali Ministry of Defense statement and on Abdullahi’s death: “the slain leader was in charge of terrorist activity in the province on the Ethiopia border, per the statement”.
Moreover, VOA journalist, Harun Maruf, posted online via X/Twitter regarding the airstrike, and referred to Abdullahi as the “Al-Shabaab figure leading militant operations in the Bakool region”.
As neither the Somali government nor any source found by Airwars commented on the civilian harm reported by the Al-Shebab statement following the strike, Airwars has ranged the number of civilians killed as eight. Similarly, as no source contested the number of Shebab militants killed reported by the Somali government – Airwars ranged it as between one and eight, due to the naming of one of the militants killed. Airwars will update its estimates once more information comes to light.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
