Methodology note: US Forces in Yemen
This note is intended to accompany the data and findings following our publication of all alleged US actions in Yemen during Obama’s first term 2009-Jan 2013. These are all published as assessments available in our archive. This is the first phase of work, with the second phase covering Obama’s second term, between 2013-17, still undergoing
US airstrikes fell to historic low in 2022, despite fresh operations
In the second year of President Joe Biden’s administration, the number of US airstrikes fell to an historic low as some military engagements appeared to take a different form — with the redeployment of US forces to Somalia and a shift towards targeted raids on Islamic State figures in Syria. The overall number of declared
Declared and alleged US actions in Yemen
US actions in Yemen are carried out both by US Central Command (CENTCOM) and by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). While CENTCOM publicly declares some of its actions, others remain secret. CIA strikes are officially neither confirmed nor denied. In addition, there are some actions in Yemen where the belligerent is presently contested (eg possibly
US Forces in Yemen Fatalities and Strikes Map
The United States conducted its first targeted assassination by drone outside the hot battlefield in November 2002 in Marib province, killing five reported members of Al Qaeda. However US counterterrorism operations did not begin in earnest until 2009, prompted by the founding of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Obama Administration’s controversial campaign
How do the ‘forever wars’ look under President Biden?
There has been much speculation in recent weeks about what President Biden’s first year in office shows us about his foreign policy – and in particular whether he is ending 20 years of America’s so-called ‘forever wars’. As 2021 nears its end, Airwars reached out to US combatant commands to request strike data for conflicts.
Pentagon annual report declares 85 civilian deaths in recent US actions
The Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on civilian deaths and injuries resulting from US military actions around the world has declared more than 100 recent casualties. Researchers and human rights groups, including Airwars, Amnesty International and UN monitors in Afghanistan, place the actual toll significantly higher. For 2020 alone, the Department of Defence said that
US military blames “administrative mistake” after forgetting its troops killed Yemeni civilians
The US military has blamed an “administrative mistake” after conceding it forgot its own admission of the killing of up to 12 civilians during a raid on a Yemeni village in early 2017. Details of the admission feature in the Airwars annual report for 2020 which published March 2nd. The US military led a raid
Pentagon concedes 211 more civilian deaths across four war zones in latest report to Congress
The Department of Defense (DoD) informed Congress on May 6th that US forces in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Somalia had between them killed at least 132 civilians and injured 91 more during 2019. The Pentagon also reported a further 79 historical deaths from its actions in Syria and Iraq during 2017-18. The 22-page Annual Report