Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

USYEM125-C

Incident date

September 5, 2012

Location

الهشم, Hashim, Hadhramout, Yemen

Geolocation

15.4619740, 48.4316200 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Up to four civilians were killed when an alleged US drone reportedly fired eight missiles on a residential house with a winery on the ground floor in the village of Hashim in Hadramout. Sources were conflicted as to who was killed, with some reporting that the strike killed up to six Al Qaeda affiliates and wounded three more militants.

According to the DPA news agency, “Four civilians were killed Wednesday in an airstrike by a US drone in eastern Yemen”. The sources added: “A local worker and three foreigners were killed in the strike on a house in the area of Wadi al-Ain in the province of Hadramout, said the independent Yemeni website Mareb Press.” A tweet from @BaFana3 reported that one civilian and four Iraqi/Syria Al Qaeda members were killed.

An anonymous US intelligence official confirmed a US drone carried out the strike. However, according to the Long War Journal, the Yemeni military later took responsibility for the attack.  A Yemeni security official said “none of those killed were on the government’s list of most-wanted terrorists.” The anonymous official told CNN: “Those killed were mostly new Al Qaeda members who were seeking to recruit more fighters from within the province. Only one of those killed had been with the network for more than three years.”

Initial reports said that two middle-ranking or senior members of the local branch of Al Qaeda were also among the dead, and a Yemeni military official said a “senior [Al Qaeda] member” named as Murad Ben Salem was killed in the strike.

However, an anonymous source told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that Murad, while he may have had militant links, was a worker to whom a traditional sesame oil press belonged to. Other sources, including Hour News, referred to the location as a “vegetable oil presser” and winery, adding that the explosion demolished the house that the winery was located below.

The source also reported that two foreign Al Qaeda members were killed, an Iraqi and a Syrian. Other reports said a Saudi and an Iraqi were among the dead. Xinhua identified three militants as being injured, and added that they had managed to flee the bombing area.

Witnesses reported that eight men escaped the building. “Weapons found in the house after the attack are enough to conduct more than a dozen terrorist operations,” according to a senior security official.

Reuters was the sole agency later to report that AQAP number two Said al Shehri died in the attack. AQAP announced the death of al Shehri in a video that was released on July 16, 2013 according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained the video. However, the statement does not specify when he was killed, only that it was by US drones. In October 2012, AP reported that “a man claiming to be Saudi-born [Said al Shehri] says reports of his death were a “rumor to cover up the killing of innocent Muslim civilians: and in April 2013, AQAP released a statement from al Shihri, and referred to him as if he was alive.

The reports at hand do contradict each other to some extent on how many civilians and belligerents were killed by the drone attack. While Reuters states that only five belligerents were killed in the attack, other sources such as Marebpress write that only four civilians were killed.

In addition, Hournews and Yafanews stated that the attack took place on September 4. All others reported that the strike took place on September 5.

Hour News reported that the bombing led to a state of panic and terror among the population, “as the target was between the residential houses in the Al-Hashem area and near the 26th of September School and close to the Babiker Charitable Hospital, which was dominated by a state of confusion within its departments and fear and panic among its sick”.

Due to the nature of both CIA and US military involvement in Yemen, and the lack of official acknowledgement by the CIA for their involvement, Airwars grades this event as “declared” due to the comments made by US government sources to media, in lieu of public reporting on CIA actions.

The incident occured around dawn.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 4
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Known attacker
    US Forces
  • Known target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–6
  • Belligerents reported injured
    3

Sources (19) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]

  • Protests took place in three Yemen cities to demand an end to US drone strikes on September 7th.
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on September 4, 2012. (Image posted by Yafa News)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on September 4, 2012. (Image posted by Yafa News)

Geolocation notes

Reports mention the village of Hashim (الهشم) in the Wadi Al Ain (وادي العين) area, Hadhramout governorate. The coordinates for the village of Hashim (الهشم) are: 15.4619740, 48.4316200. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

US Forces Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

US Forces
Official source

An anonymous US intelligence official confirmed to the Long War Journal that a US drone carried out the strike:

"...he strike was carried out by the US’s fleet of unmanned Predators and Reapers based in the area, a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal. US drones have zeroed in on Hadramout province over the past month. Of the seven recorded strikes since the beginning of August, five have taken place in the eastern province..."

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0 – 4
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Known attacker
    US Forces
  • Known target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    0–6
  • Belligerents reported injured
    3

Sources (19) [ collapse]

August 2012 update: US covert actions in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia

Published

September 3, 2012

Written by

Chris Woods and Jack Serle
This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Somalia’s parliamentarians meet for the first time in for two decades on August 20 2012. (AU-UN IST / Stuart Price)

Pakistan: August sees the highest number of CIA strikes in Pakistan since October 2011. A number of senior militants are killed along with at least two named civilians.

Yemen: At least 26 people are killed in five confirmed US drone strikes in Yemen. This is still less than the May peak. Civilian casualties are confirmed for the first time since May.

Somalia: For the fourth month no US military actions are reported in Somalia. In related news, three Ugandan helicopters crash-land prior to an anticipated assault on militant-held Kismayo.

Pakistan

July 2012 actions

Total CIA strikes in August: 7

Total killed in strikes in August: 29-65, of whom at least 2 were reportedly civilians

All actions 2004 – August 31 2012

Total Obama strikes: 291

Total US strikes since 2004: 343

Total reported killed: 2,558-3,319

Civilians reported killed: 474-881

Children reported killed: 176

Total reported injured: 1,226-1,359For the Bureau’s full Pakistan databases click here.

 

The CIA launched seven drone strikes in August, the highest recorded in any month since October 2011. The rate of strikes has continued to rise through the year.

Total CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, per month of 2012.

All seven attacks happened after Ramadan. Neither the CIA nor the Taliban seem to change their tactics in the month of fasting and the festival of Eid al Fitr. The Bureau’s data shows that since President Obama came to office there has been no let-up in the tempo of strikes during Ramadan and Eid. A CIA drone strike has never taken place on either Christmas or Easter Day.

The August barrage of strikes culminated with three coordinated attacks on August 24 that killed 13-18 people including several named militants, according to the Bureau’s field researchers. Four named Turkistani militants died along with three named members of the Pakistan Taliban (TTP).

For the first time in some months there were confirmed reports of civilian casualties in Pakistan. On August 18 the wife of Ahsan Aziz, a Kashmiri militant, died in a strike alongside her husband. Thirteen-year-old Osama Haqqani also reportedly died on August 21.  As many as 25 others died with the teenager, including his father Badruddin Haqqani, the third-in-command of the Haqqani Network. These were the first known names of civilians reported killed since October 31 2001, although other civilians have been reported killed in this period.

Pakistan responded to the onslaught of strikes by continuing with its vocal protests, calling in a senior US diplomat for an official reprimand. Washington in turn insisted that Islamabad pressure the Haqqani Network to stop cross-border attacks on Isaf and Afghan forces.

Yemen

August 2012 actions

Confirmed US drone strikes: 5

Further reported/possible US strike events: 1

Total reported killed in US operations: 26-33Civilians reported killed in US strikes: 2

All actions 2002 – August 31 2012*

Total confirmed US operations: 52-62

Total confirmed US drone strikes: 40-50

Possible additional US operations: 113-128

Of which possible additional US drone strikes: 57-66

Total reported killed: 347-990

Total civilians killed: 60-151

Children killed: 24-31Click here for the full Yemen data.

 

Five of the six strikes in August were confirmed as US attacks by a variety of Yemeni officials.

The focus of US attacks has now moved to Hadramout in the eastern part of Yemen. Five strikes hit targets in the arid province, bearing out reports that al Qaeda has taken refuge there. This is a shift from Abyan province where most of the attacks occurred in July. Yemeni security forces and local militia drove the militants from their ‘Islamic Emirate’ in Abyan earlier this year.

The first named civilian casualties were reported since Red Cross worker Hussein Saleh was killed on June 20 in a possible US airstrike. Policeman Walid Abdullah Bin Ali Jaber and Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, a mosque imam, were killed in a house in the eastern Hadramout province when a nearby car carrying alleged militants was destroyed.

While drone strikes seem to have plateaued, al Qaeda and its ally Ansar al Sharia have continued with their bloody insurgency against the government. In the most deadly attack this month, a suicide bomber targeted a funeral wake in Jaar where more than 150 people had gathered to mourn a local sheikh. His militia had first fought alongside al Qaeda in Abyan before siding with the government. At least 50 people were killed by shrapnel from the blast.

* All but one of these actions have taken place during Obama’s presidency. Reports of incidents in Yemen often conflate individual strikes. The range in the total strikes and total drone strikes we have recorded reflects this.

Somalia

August 2012 actions

Total reported US operations: 0

All actions 2007 – August 31 2012

Total US operations: 10-21

Total US drone strikes: 3-9Total reported killed: 58-169Civilians reported killed: 11-57

Children reported killed: 1-3

Click here for the Bureau’s full data on Somalia.

 

August was the fourth consecutive month in which there have been no reports of US strikes. Concerns remain that covert operations continue in the country, in support of African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) peacekeepers fighting al Shabaab.

In related news, in the build-up to Amisom’s long-touted advance on militant-held Kismayo, the UN allowed Uganda to dispatch air support for the assaulting troops. Catastrophically all but one of four helicopters sent by Kampala crashed into a Kenyan mountain. The losses cast doubt on the military capacity of African nations engaged in Somalia, and their ability to have carried out any of the 10 strikes recorded by the Bureau since 2007 that are not confirmed as US operations.

Kismayo is the last deep-water port in al Shabaab’s hands. Its fall could prove decisive in the battle with the militants in the south. The assault was intended to start before August 20, the day of long-awaited parliamentary elections. However those elections dragged on into the final week of August when a parliamentary speaker was finally voted in. This has cleared the way for parliament to choose a president and for the eight year life of the Transitional Federal Government to end.

Other conflicts: Israel and Egypt

The US and Israel are the only countries known to have carried out targeted killings with drones, with the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) reported to have carried out a strike as early as 2004. Until now all known Israeli strikes have been within Gaza.  On August 26 Ibrahim Owida Nasser Madan was killed in an explosion as he rode his motorbike through Egypt’s Sinai desert. It was later reported by Israeli media that Madan had died in an Israeli drone strike up to 15km inside Egypt. Both the IDF and Egyptian military denied the claims.

Follow Chris Woods and Jack Serle on Twitter.

To sign up for monthly updates from the Bureau’s Covert War project click here.

Continue reading

Incident Code

USYEM124-C

Incident date

September 2, 2012

Location

صرار قيفة, Sarar Qifah, Bayda', Yemen

Geolocation

14.5370040, 44.7177870 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Confirmed US drones or jets killed between 11 and 14 civilians, including up to three women (one pregnant woman) and three children, in a botched attack on an alleged senior militant in the village of Al Saboul in Bayda province at 4pm on September 2, 2012. Up to 11 other civilians were wounded.

Al Masdar Online published the names of those killed: Abdullah Muhammad Ali al-Daqari (23-25 years old), Mubarak Muqbel al-Daqari (13 years old), Nasir Salah (50-60 years old), Rassila Ali (41-55 years old) (Nasir Salah’s wife), Dawlat Nasir (10 years) (Daughter of Nasir Salah), Abdullah Ahmad Abd Rabbo Rabeesh (28 years), Saddam Hussein Muhammad Musaad (18-28 years, student), Ismael Mabkhout Muhammad (25-30 years, farmer), Abd al-Ghani Muhammad Mabkhout (12-17 years, student), Masoud Ali Ahmed Muqbel (45 years old, farmer), Jamal Muhammad Abbad (30 years old).

The injured were listed as the driver Nasser Mabkhout, 45 and Sultan Ahmed Mohammed Sarhan, 27. Mohammed Abdo Jarallah died of his wounds three weeks later after he was transferred to Egypt for treatment. Alkarama, in an October 2013 report, said 11 pedestrians were injured in the strike.

Locals said that a 10-year-old girl, her mother, and her father (Nasir Salah, Rassila Ali and Dawlat Nasir) were killed while returning from a doctor’s visit. Both were corroborated by a report compiled by three human rights groups, submitted to a US Senate subcommittee hearing in April 2013. “The bodies were charred like coal. I could not recognize the faces,” said Ahmed al Sabooli, the dead girl’s 22-year-old brother. “Then I recognized my mother because she was still holding my sister in her lap.That is when I cried” reported Foreign Policy. Mwatana added that Rassila was pregnant at the time she was killed.

Alkarama quoted the father of Mubarak Muqbel al-Daqari, who described him as “Mubarak left school when he was in the sixth grade to work on a farm and help us financially. Everyone loved Mubarak, but his grandfather loved him most of all, and to this day we have not been able to tell him of his death.”

A report by Mwatana pointed out that many of the victim’s families lost their breadwinners in the strike: Mohammed Abdo Jarallah, who was killed in the attack, supported a family of 25. Masoud Ali Muqbel, who was also killed in the strike, had four sons and five daughters, all of whom were forced to leave school and go to work in their father’s farm after his death. Umm Moosa, the wife of Masoud Ali, said: “All my kids are still children. The eldest is 12 years old. For a whole week, my child kept asking, ‘Where is my father?’ and we told him that his father had gone to God. Moreover, my mother-in-law has been sick since her son’s death.”

Mareb Press reported that the dead were from the village of Saboul, and that a number of them were heading to Radaa to sell khat. A provincial police official, tribal officials and local residents said that a minibus was hit by mistake, killing the civilians.

Reports about the number of casualties from the strike were varied, with @AlainOnline tweeting that thirteen civilians were killed in an apparent drone attack, while @7aryaneh tweeted that eleven civilians were killed, but specifically included the details of three women. Kuwaite News @NewsKuwaite later reported that thirteen individuals were killed including a “prominent” al-Qaeda leader. @Akhbar tweeted shortly after that fourteen civilians were “mistakenly” killed in an airstrike.

The airstrike was initially said to have intended to strike a car carrying alleged militant Abdulraouf al Dahab at 4pm local time, with some sources stating that he survived the strike. Abdulraouf’s half-brothers Qayid and Nabil al Dhahab survived a US drone strike in May that year. They reportedly became local Al Qaeda leaders in Radaa after Yemeni intelligence services killed their brother Sheikh Tariq al Dahab in February 2012. Initial reporting from local and international media, including Reuters and Ahram News, reported that as many as 10 members of Al Qaeda were killed in the attack. However, these sources also note that the claims of killing Al Qaeda leaders were being contradicted by other sources.

At first military officials said Yemen Air Force jets killed them as they returned to their village because of faulty intelligence. However the Yemen Air Force lacks the technical capability to carry out a precision strike on a moving target, and the Yemen Post reported that the attack was the work of US drones.

Eyewitnesses also reported that a drone carried out the strike. In December 2012, US officials acknowledged responsibility for the attack. They told the Washington Post a “Defense Department aircraft, either a drone or a fixed-wing warplane” carried out the strike. Witnesses told the paper they saw three aircraft over the strike, two of them Yemeni. “I heard a very loud noise, like thunder,” said Sami al-Ezzi, a farmer who was working in his fields in Sabool, a farming village six miles from Radda. “I looked up and saw two warplanes. One was firing missiles.”

Witnesses also told Human Rights Watch researcher Letta Tayler that drones and jets were over the area on the day of the strike. Their testimony and the shrapnel they recovered from the site pointed to US involvement but could not determine if the drones or strike fighters launched the attack.

Recounting the aftermath of the strike, a local sheikh Nawaf Massoud Awadh told Tayler: “About four people were without heads. Many lost their hands and legs…These were our relatives and friends.”

“Their bodies were burning,” recalled Sultan Ahmed Mohammed, 27, who was riding on the hood of the truck and flew headfirst into a sandy expanse. “How could this happen? None of us were al-Qaeda” reported the Washington Post. “If we are ignored and neglected, I would try to take my revenge. I would even hijack an army pickup, drive it back to my village and hold the soldiers in it hostages,” said Nasser Mabkhoot Mohammed al-Sabooly, the truck’s driver, 45, who suffered burns and bruises. “I would fight along al-Qaeda’s side against whoever was behind this attack.”

The uncle of Mohammed Abdo Jarrallah, who was killed by the attack, told Mwatana: “We were all shocked by the incident. A group of qat vendors and farmers, including a woman and child, who had nothing to do with any [militant] group were killed. Everyone in the area knew them, and so did everyone in Rada’a market. They were coming home carrying home necessities and food for their families. Why did America kill them? What was their crime? Was it their fault that they were poor and they were from a poor and remote village? What is the crime of the victims’ children so that they lose their breadwinner in this horrible way?”

In their submission to a Senate subcommittee hearing, NGOs  HOOD, Alkarama and CCR interviewed survivors. One said: “We saw two planes coming close to us. One of them got very close and fired a missile and we flew from the car. Some were still alive, and wanted to flee, but the plane fired another missile to kill those who were not yet dead from the first.”

One of the survivors said: “The plane came very close to us, which enabled them with all certainty to see us and confirm to them that we were civilians and that we had children and women with us.”

The victims’ families, joined in protests by hundreds of others, “vowed to retaliate”. As CNN reported: “Families of the victims closed main roads and vowed to retaliate. Hundreds of angry armed gunmen joined them and gave the government a 48-hour deadline to explain the killings, which took place on Sunday. Eyewitnesses said that families attempted to carry the victims’ corpses to the capital, Sanaa, to lay them in front of the residence of newly elected President Abdurabu Hadi, but were sent back by local security forces.”

Yemen’s government later established a commission of inquiry into the deaths, the worst civilian tally since May. However, three months after the strike, locals complained that “the government is trying to kill the case” and that “the government wants to protect its relations with the US.”

Xinhua reported that a number of MPs “summoned Interior Minister Mohammed Qahtan to an emergency meeting to clarify over the civilian casualties of the U.S. drone strike” and that Minister of Human Rights Houria Mash’hour “condemned the ‘U.S. meddling’ in Yemeni internal affairs, saying that most casualties of the U.S. drones were civilians and calling for an immediate end to the U.S. interference and drone strikes.”

US chief counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan also spoke with President Hadi on September 4, though it is not known if the Radaa strike was discussed.

A BBC report on drone strikes in Yemen later reported that the Yemeni government paid $75,000 (£48,000) in blood money to the families of the victims while Mwatana reported that “in August 2014—nearly two years after the incident—the victims’ families received 7 million riyals (approximately US $32,578) for each family member killed, and 3 million riyals (approximately US $13,962) for each family member injured.”

Due to the nature of both CIA and US military involvement in Yemen, and the lack of official acknowledgement by the CIA for their involvement, Airwars grades this event as “declared” due to the comments made by US government sources to media, in lieu of public reporting on CIA actions.

The incident occured at 16:00:00 local time.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Mubarak Muqbel al-Daqari
13 years old male killed
Abdullah Muhammad Ali al-Daqari
25 years old male killed

Family members (3)

Nasir Salah
60 years old male killed
Rassila Ali
55 years old female pregnant killed
Dawlat Nasir
10 years old female killed

The victims were named as:

Abdullah Ahmed Abed Rabbo Robich
28 years old male killed
Saddam Hussein Mohamed Massad
28 years old male killed
Ismail Mabkhout Mohamed
30 years old male killed
Abed al Ghani Mohammed Mabkhout
12 years old killed
Masoud Ali Ahmed Mouqbal
45 years old male killed
Jamal Mohammed Abad
30 years old male killed
Mohammed Abdo Jarallah
Age unknown male killed
Nasser Mabkhout
Age unknown male injured
Sultan Ahmed Mohammed Sarhan
Age unknown male injured

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11 – 14
  • (3 children3 women8 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4–11
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Known attacker
    US Forces

Sources (78) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • Ahmed al Sabool holds photos of his mother, father and sister, who were killed in the strike on Sept 2 2012. (via Letta Tayler/Human Rights Watch).

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    The aftermath of the alleged US strike on Al-Bayda, Spet 2nd 2012. This video contains images some people might find distressing (via Alkarama/YouTube).
  • Ahmed Saleh Ahmed al-Duqari lost two of his cousins in the Sept. 2 U.S. airstrike that killed 12 civilians near the town of Radda, Yemen. (Sudarsan Raghavan/The Washington Post)
  • Ahmed al-Sabooly describes the drone strike that killed three members of his family in Radda. (Image posted by BBC)
  • The immediate aftermath of a US airstrike in Sarar on September 2, 2012, that killed 12 civilians returning home from a market. © 2012 Private (Image from Human Rights Watch)

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

The video published by Alkarama mentions the village of Al Saboul (الصبول), for which the coordinates are: 14.5370040, 44.7177870. Other locations mentioned are the town of Rada’a (رداع), Sarar Qifah (صرار قيفة) and the road between the villages of Hama (الحمة) and Manaseh (المناسح). The coordinates for Sarar Qifah (صرار قيفة) are: 14.517317, 44.776728. The coordinates for Rada’a (رداع) are: 14.415088, 44.840937. The coordinates for Manaseh (المناسح) are: 14.579762, 44.750219. There are several villages by the name Hama. On Openstreetmaps Sarar Qifah is referred to as Hammat Sarar.

  • Al Saboul (الصبول) and Sarar Qifah ( صرار قيفة) between Manaseh (المناسح) and Rada’a (رداع)

    Imagery:
    Google Earth

US Forces Assessment:

  • Known belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Original strike reports

US Forces
Official source

In a Washington Post article published on December 25th, 2012, US officials acknowledged responsibility for the attack:

"...In response to questions, U.S. officials in Washington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said it was a Defense Department aircraft, either a drone or a fixed-wing warplane, that fired on the truck. The Pentagon declined to comment on the incident, as did senior U.S. officials in Yemen and senior counterterrorism officials in Washington."

Summary

  • Strike status
    Declared strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    11 – 14
  • (3 children3 women8 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    4–11
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Known attacker
    US Forces

Sources (78) [ collapse]

Incident Code

USYEM123-B

Incident date

August 31, 2012

Location

الخشعة, قطن, Between Kasha and Qatn , Hadhramout, Yemen

Geolocation

15.781785, 48.292870 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Neighbourhood/area level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

An alleged US drone strike killed between eight and 10 suspected Al Qaeda militants on the road between the town of Qatn and the village of Khasha in the Hadramout province at 7.30am on August 31st, 2012. There were no reports of civilian harm.

@basselabowardh was among the first to tweet that a drone was responsible for an attack that killed eight people. There were a series of reports that included discrepancies concerning the number of individuals who were killed. Journalist @ahmadalwosabi and @bamakhrmh both tweeted that eight people were killed, with the former specifically describing the missile fired as “American”. Eight was the generally accepted number as a Reuters report noted eight deaths, citing an anonymous member of the Yemeni Defense Ministry. The Nashwan News reported that eight suspected Al Qaeda operatives were killed, and this report was mirrored by Xinhua and Bloomberg News.

However, @Alraimediagroup and the Hadath newspaper both reported that nine individuals were killed in the strike, and the Syrian News Network reported that ten suspected militants died in the strike. Sadasaida.com and Anawen.net both listed the death toll at nine following the strike. Albawaba News reported that eight militants were killed in a “remote location”, citing an anonymous local Yemeni official. The same official said the men who were killed were carrying machine guns and explosives and were traveling to “launch an attack”. Suhf.net tweeted (@suhfnet_ye) reported that Al Qaeda militants were killed in a “U.S. plane attack” but did not reference any civilian deaths.

Sadasaida.com referred to the location of the strikes as a vehicle in the Al-Khasha area while Nashwan News quoted AFP who reported that a four-wheel drive vehicle on the road between the town of Qatn and the village of Khasha was struck by a drone.

The Yemen defense ministry subsequently announced that Khaled Musalem Batis (aka Bates or Batees) died in the strike. Batis had been captured previously by security forces but escaped prison during the 2011 uprising. He was described as a top Al Qaeda militant wanted for allegedly masterminding a 2002 Al Qaeda attack on a French oil tanker MV Limburg. A Bulgarian sailor died in that attack.

The incident occured at approximately 7:30 am local time.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    8–10

Sources (30) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention that the vehicle was struck in the desert district of Hawra (حورة), in the governorate Hadramout (حضرموت‎), on the road between the town of Qatn (قطن) and the village of Khasha (الخشعة). The coordinates for the middle of the road between the two are: 15.781785, 48.292870, just north of the town of Hawra (حورة). Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

  • Road between the town of Qatn (قطن) and the village of Khasha (الخشعة)

    Imagery:
    Google Earth

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    8–10

Sources (30) [ collapse]

Apple rejects app built from the Bureau’s data

Published

August 30, 2012

Written by

Jack Serle
This page is archived from original Bureau of Investigative Journalism reporting on US military actions in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This is what it could have looked like…

An app that uses the Bureau’s covert war data to alert people to the far reaches of the US government’s secret wars has been blocked from Apple’s app store.

Drones+, the creation of NYU student Josh Begley, was meant to be a simple way of notifying users whenever US drones struck somewhere in the world.

But Apple decided this was not acceptable for its customers. After rejecting the app on the grounds of its design and functionality, the US tech giant finally took exception to its content.

In correspondence seen by the Bureau, the US tech giant told Begley that apps that ‘present excessively objectionable or crude content will be rejected.’

The company added: ‘We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable.’

‘We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable.’ Apple correspondence

Apple’s decision did not come as a surprise to Begley. ‘I think their position is often just they don’t want to let anything through that could be seen by anyone at any particular table that could be seen as controversial,’ he said.

But how its content could have been objectionable or crude for a user is difficult to fathom.

A basic app, Drones+ was simply a news feed summarising each entry from the Bureau’s databases and a map of the drone strikes. Each time a drone hits a village in Waziristan, a message would ping straight to the user’s handset to let them know.

Inane nudges

The project began with a simple question about what smartphone users like to be notified about.

Begley wondered if US smartphone users would want to be told about something more challenging than ‘the sort of inane nudges you get when it’s your turn to play Words With Friends.’

He presumed not. But Apple, who could not be reached for comment on this story before publication, has made sure he will never know.

Following their latest rejection Begley is abandoning the Apple app idea. He is thinking about producing a version for the rival Android system instead.

But iphone users were of specific interest to Begley. Having schooled himself on the extent of the US drone programme, he says he wanted to push the drone debate ‘into corners where it hasn’t been discussed.’

Smartphone users more interested in the nuts and bolts of technology may go for an Android phone, he explains. Apple’s products appeal to a different crowd.

‘I think people who use iphones like them because “they just work,”’ he says. ‘Part of the reason they just work is because Apple is either very vigilant or diligent…to shape and control every aspect of the experience.’

Thanks to a handful of high profile leaks, US drones are getting some attention. But Begley believes there is a limit to how much people understand, himself included. Before starting to make the app, ‘I had a general sense of hidden drone wars but never actually had a granular understanding,’ he says.

From the start of the project one line of the drones debate grabbed his attention. ‘When I started thinking about the app I actually didn’t know about the Bureau’s data sets,’ he explains. ‘I was considering using New America Foundation’s data.’

But as the accuracy of New America Foundation’s data was challenged in the media, Begley turned to the Bureau. ‘In light of recent questions of their under reporting, and their potentially severe under reporting, it just made sense to use the best data set around.’

Unfortunately, it just isn’t coming soon to an Apple Store near you.

Continue reading

Incident Code

USYEM122-C

Incident date

August 29, 2012

Location

خشامر, Khashamir, Hadhramout, Yemen

Geolocation

15.9077780, 48.5855560 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

As many as nine people were reportedly killed by alleged US drone or airstrikes as they travelled through the village of Khashamir on August 29, 2023. Up to four missiles were fired at the village causing extensive damage to homes and terrifying the local residents sufficiently for some to be rushed to hospital with shock. Between two and four civilians were killed in the strike and testimony from their relatives formed part of a submission to an April 2013 Senate subcommittee hearing on the constitutional and counterterrorism implications of targeted killings.

Five people were reported killed, according to initial reports, and the defense ministry said three militants were killed in the strike. Witnesses said a US drone fired on a car with at least one hitting the target, and a local source identified the vehicle as a Suzuki Vitara that was “heading on a secondary road linking the Akkad area with the village of Khashamir.” Local residents pulled “charred bodies” from the wreckage that were “badly mangled by the airstrike“. There was “a huge explosion” that rocked the area, one local resident said, adding that military aircraft remained hovering “over several Al Qaeda-held sites in Hadramout’s suburbs.”

It was initially understood that the car was targeted in a residential area and a policeman, Walid Abdullah bin Ali Jaber, and a “mosque imam“, Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, were killed by the blast in their house. However subsequent investigations revealed a different story. Blogger Nasser Arrabyee claimed that militants had been visiting the Salafist cleric to threaten him when the strike took place. He wrote:

“He was always speaking against Al Qaeda. In his recent sermons he said Al Qaeda is against Islam… Al Qaeda sent on Wednesday four operatives to the cleric Jaber to blame him and while the five people were in the meeting a US drone came and killed them all.”

Reuters quoted the Union of Clerics and Preachers of Yemen’s Southern Provinces, who said in a statement that “Among the four killed in an attack launched by a U.S. aircraft in the al-Qatn district of Hadramout on Wednesday was one of our members, Salem bin Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, who had no link to Al Qaeda.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) described Salem as a father of seven, the imam of al-Mutadharirin mosque in Mukalla and added that he taught at a government school and was studying for a doctorate at Hadramawt University. The same HRW report described Walid as the father of a two year old son and Khashamir’s traffic policeman, and his mother Hayat bin Ali Jaber said that “Every day he would go to work in his uniform, so proud of his work.”

Six months after the strike the New York Times uncovered more details. The Imam commanded great respect in the community. Two days before his death the father of seven had reportedly stood up in his village mosque, denouncing Al Qaeda in a speech. On August 29 three Al Qaeda members came to Khashamir after 9pm. The Imam met the militants, taking his cousin Walid Abdullah bin Ali Jaber, a policeman, with him for security. The five men were reportedly stood arguing by some palm trees when “a volley” of missiles killed them all.

RW provided similar details that a black Suzuki Vitara sports utility vehicle with three men inside came to Salim’s house multiple times on the day of August 29, with Salim finally meeting with them in the evening when the drone strikes hit. Faisal Jaber, the brother-in-law of Salim Jaber and the uncle of Walid Jaber told HRW that “The first two missiles hit the circle of men directly. When the men heard it they all ran toward the spot where it landed. Then the second missile struck and shrapnel flew over their heads. The third missile came from an angle and took off the roof of the car and hit them again. The fourth missile took a bit of time. Maybe they were checking to see if they were still alive. They [villagers] saw a man crawling and the fourth missile hit that man and his body was thrown 20 meters or more, onto the wall of a sheep’s manger near the mosque. His body was intact. Only the back of his head was gone.” HRW added that images provided by Faisal show the remains of an ordnance, which they identified as a Hellfire missile.

Dammon.net provided names of the Al Qaeda members killed as “one of them from the Bin Ali Jaber family and the other from the Batarfi family” while the third person’s identity was unknown.

According to evidence submitted by human rights groups to a Senate subcommittee hearing, the missiles landed within 15 metres of occupied houses and pedestrian paths. At least two passers-by, unnamed civilians, were killed by flying shrapnel. The submission said Salem Ahmed, 50, was a preacher at the local mosque, a teacher, and studying for a doctorate at the University of Hadramout. His father, Ahmad bin Salim Salih bin Ali Jabir, 77, investigated the strike and found people gathered at the site “wrapping up body parts of people from the ground, from here and there, putting them in grave clothes like lamb”. Salem Ahmed’s mother had fainted when the strike hit and she died a few weeks later. Walid Abdullah, 26, was a traffic policeman with a two and a half year old son. His brother said the boy was initially called Saud, but the family renamed him after his father. Whenever the child hears the sound of an airplane “he screams and yells, ‘The plane, the plane, the plane, my father, my father, I want my father’”.

HRW stated that Faisal Jaber received a call from the Yemeni government just after the attack: “An officer from the Counter-Terrorism Unit called me the night of the attack and said, “I am sorry. It was not Salim and Walid who were being targeted.” He said, “I can’t do anything for you but you can call [President] Hadi at the presidential palace landline….Faisal Jaber heard nothing more until June, after Human Rights Watch and other international nongovernmental organizations raised the issue of compensation with US government officials. At that time, the Yemeni government ordered condolence payments of 2.5 million rials ($11,600) each to Salim Jaber’s and Walid Jaber’s families, Faisal Jaber said. At the time of writing, the payments had yet to arrive.”

Aljazeera reported that in July 2014, Faisal bin Ali Jaber received “roughly $100,000 in cash” Yemen’s National Security Bureau (NSB) – the Yemeni equivalent of the CIA – months after he traveled to the US to speak with Congress, adding that it was unclear if the compensation came from the US government.

On May 27 2015, three relatives of Walid and Salim began legal proceedings against the German government in a court in Cologne. The case focused on the role of the air base in Ramstein, southern Germany, which was a key hub in the US drone war in Asia and the Middle East. It transferred the drone data link from satellites into a fibre optic network spanning the world, feeding various locations including the drone pilots’ control centres in the US. Faisal bin Ali Jaber, Ahmed Saeed bin Ali Jaber and Khaled Mohmed Naser bin Ali Jaber “called upon the German government to accept legal and political responsibility for the US drone war in Yemen and to prohibit the use of Ramstein,” according to their lawyers. The first attempt was defeated but in March 2019 “the Higher Administrative Court obliged the Federal Republic of Germany to establish by means of suitable measures whether the use of Ramstein Air Base by the United States of America for operations with armed drones at the residential address of the plaintiffs in Yemen complies with international law.”

The families of the two civilians killed also filed wrongful death lawsuits in the US in June 2015, as reported by The Guardian. In October 2015, Faisal bin Ali Jaber had offered to drop a federal lawsuit he filed, in exchange for “an apology and an explanation as to why a strike that killed two innocent civilians was authorized” but the Justice Department rejected the offer and in January 2016 a federal judge struck down his lawsuit and a appellate court upheld this decision in June 2017.

The incident occured during the night.

The victims were named as:

Family members (2)

Walid Abdullah bin Ali Jaber
26 years old male killed
Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber
50 years old male killed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 4
  • (2 men)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    3–5

Sources (92) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (18) [ collapse]

  • Walid bin Ali Jaber, a local policeman (Letta Tayler/Human Rights Watch).
  • Salim Ahmad Jaber of Khashamir, Hadhramaut. Mosque caretaker & imam. Killed by alleged US drone strikes August 28, 2012. (Image posted by @BaFana3)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Dammonnet)
  • Faisal bin Ali Jaber, a Yemeni who lost relatives in a drone strike, visited Washington. Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
  • Faisal bin Ali Jaber, center, with Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, left, and Baraa Shiban, who investigates drone strikes.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times
  • Damage caused by alleged US drone strikes on August 28, 2012. (Image posted by Aljazeera)

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention that a car was targeted overnight in near the village of Khashamir (خشامر) in the Qatn (قطن) district of Hadhramout governorate. The coordinates for the village of Khashamir (خشامر) are: 15.9077780, 48.5855560. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    2 – 4
  • (2 men)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    3–5

Sources (92) [ collapse]

Incident Code

USYEM121-B

Incident date

August 28, 2012

Location

حصن العبر, Abr district, Hadhramout, Yemen

Geolocation

15.870972, 47.265272 Note: The accuracy of this location is to District level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Multiple reports stated that Yemeni military officials acknowledged that a drone strike killed at least two suspected militants, as missiles struck two cars travelling between the Marib and Hadramout provinces in eastern Yemen on August 28th, 2012. While American drones have been utilized in this area, Yemeni military officials did not specify the nation involved.

The strike generated a wide array of reports on Twitter. Anawen.net (@anaweny) tweeted an image of the charred automobile, while shababhor.net (@shbab7or) reported that three suspected militants were killed, including one individual described as “a leader”. Ain News tweeting as @Ainyemen announced that a Saudi national, Salam al-Saiari was among those who were killed in the strike. Yemen Post also reported on the death of al-Saiari as part of a drone strike that killed two people inside of a car that was significantly burned, adding that the area where the strike occurred was “unpopulated.” @NoonArabia tweeted that the strike was carried out by an American drone, and this was supported by Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabyee who reported that those who were killed were suspected Yemeni and Saudi Al Qaeda operatives. Gregory D Johnson, tweeting from @gregorydjohnson, noted that one car did escape from the attack.

The Xinhua News Agency from China reported that a U.S. drone strike killed three suspected Al Qaeda members, according to a Yemeni military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, who also noted that the Saudi national who was killed had allegedly joined Al Qaeda in 2011.

Saba, the Yemeni news agency, stated that the destroyed vehicle was “loaded with large quantities of weapons and explosives”. The attack as described as killing “two dangerous elements”.

Reuters released a report the day after the strike and specifically credited that the United States owned the drone that was used in the strike. Three missiles were allegedly launched with one missile striking a car, leaving two charred bodies that were pulled from the vehicle. The Yemeni government described the individuals killed as “Islamic militants”.

The incident occured in the afternoon.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    2–3

Sources (17) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes (1) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention that two vehicles were targeted on the main road in the desert between Ma’rib (مَأْرِب) and Hadhramout (حضرموت‎) governorates. Sources point to the Qahb Al Hisan area and the Al Abr (حصن العبر) district of Hadhramout (حضرموت‎) governorate. Due to limited information and satellite imagery available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location of Qahb Al Hisan. However, the generic coordinates for Al Abr (حصن العبر) district are: 15.870972, 47.265272.

  • The Al Abr (حصن العبر) district of Hadhramout (حضرموت‎) governorate with marked in yellow the main road connecting Ma’rib and Hadhramout governorates

    Imagery:
    Google Earth

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    0
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    2–3

Sources (17) [ collapse]

Incident Code

USYEM120-B

Incident date

August 10, 2012

Location

جعار, Jaar, Abyan, Yemen

Geolocation

13.217814, 45.307025 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

An alleged US drone attack killed 3 Al Qaeda militants and injured “many” who were gathering in a farm on the outskirts of Jaar in Abyan Province on the 10th of August 2012 in the evening. There are no current reports of civilian harm.

The farm which is where the militants were supposedly meeting was said to belong to a jihadist leader named Khaled Abdel-Nabi according to Adengad who were told by local residents. It is unknown whether he was amongst those who died.

Press TV and other local sources identified three Al Qaeda militants as being killed, while Adengad and @morageeb reported that an unspecified number of militants were injured. Locals told Adengad that the bombing was specifically targeting the farm and that the “bombing was violent, which prompted the people of the city to sit in their homes for fear of harm”.

@BaFana3 reported that the strike took place at 7pm local time and Adengad noted that the “violent explosion” occurred after sunset prayer time, with @ionacraig pointing out that since the strike happened after dark, it was carried out by the US (due to their more advanced capabilities).

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    3
  • Belligerents reported injured
    5–10

Sources (13) [ collapse]

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the town of Jaar (جعار), for which the generic coordinates are: 13.217814, 45.307025. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

US Forces Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    US Forces
  • US Forces position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike, Drone Strike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Agriculture
  • Civilian harm reported
    No
  • Civilians reported killed
    Unknown
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Suspected attacker
    US Forces
  • Suspected target
    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
  • Belligerents reported killed
    3
  • Belligerents reported injured
    5–10

Sources (13) [ collapse]