A US drone strike targeted a vehicle carrying three al Shabaab figures in southern Somalia. The attack hit in the early evening and killed a senior al Shabaab leader, Hassan Ali Dhoore, according to the Pentagon. There were additional reports that two other militants were killed alongside Hassan Ali Dhoore. There are currently no reports of civilian harm from this strike.

The Pentagon said the strike had targeted Hassan Ali Dhoore, “a senior leader of al Shabaab, who is part of al Qaeda”. The strike was conducted “in cooperation with the Federal Government of Somalia,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement.

Dhoore was also reportedly responsible for killing US citizens in two attacks in Mogadishu, and plotting unspecified future attacks on the city.

The US did not officially confirm Dhoore was dead until April 4th when spokesperson Peter Cook briefed reporters. In the intervening time, the Pentagon maintained it was “still assessing the results of this operation”.

During the few days before Dhoore’s death was confirmed, unnamed defence officials told some US journalists that the drone strike had most likely killed Dhoore along with two other al Shabaab fighters in the early evening. The officials said the US military had been “watching him off and on for a long time” and the Somali government shared information that led to the attack.

The precise circumstances of the strike were confused by the deputy commander of Somalia’s army, General Abi Bashe, who told Voice of America that Somali commandos operating in al Shabaab territory had located and identified Dhoore. Bashe said Dhoore had been killed in a village called Toratorow, in a gun battle between Somali forces, their US advisers, and al Shabaab. He said it was not clear whether Dhoore was killed by gun fire or the drone strike.

A Pentagon spokesperson denied any gun battle occurred, saying the US had specifically targeted Dhoore near Jillib.

According to the New York Times, “One United States official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe initial assessments of the attack, said the military believed that Mr. Dhoore and two others had been killed in the strike, which occurred near Jilib, south of Mogadishu.”

VOA reported that “at least two other Somali militants were killed along with Dhore”.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM  confirmed it had struck what it says was an “al-Shabaab named objective”, 30 km south of Jilib, Somalia.

The incident occured in the evening.

US drones and jets reportedly killed between 150 and 200 alleged members of al Shabaab in a strike on a training camp in Somalia, 120 miles north of Mogadishu. There are currently no associated reports of civilian harm.

The total killed could in fact be higher. The district governor for Buloburte told the BBC’s Somali language radio service that many more than 150 were killed, including 18 senior members of the group. The US said as many as 200 people were at the camp when the strike hit.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said “that there were no known civilian casualties.”

Al Shabaab for its part said the US was over-exaggerating the casualties caused by the strike. Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, a spokesperson, told Reuters: “The US bombed an area controlled by al Shabaab. But they exaggerated the figure of casualties. We never gather 100 fighters in one spot for security reasons. We know the sky is full of planes.” He did not provide an alternate casualty figure.

A Pentagon spokesperson told journalists: “The fighters were there training and were training for a large-scale attack. We know they were going to be departing the camp and they posed an imminent threat to US and [African Union] forces.” He added: “It was an air operation. Initial assessments are that more than 150 terrorist fighters were eliminated.”

The US said it had had the base under observation for several weeks. The strike hit during what US official said appeared to be a graduation ceremony. US aircraft fired several bombs and missiles at the al Shabaab fighters who “were standing outdoors in formation“.

An eye witness, camel-herder Bashir Dhure, told the Guardian: “All nearby places were caught on fire and no one knew what was happening. In the morning I could see the smoke coming from the bombarded training facility.

“It was like a burnt house. Everything turned burnt. I saw three vehicles burnt down. Al-Shabaab fighters were collecting dead bodies. They were put on trucks and took out of the village. We do not know where they were buried.”

After the strike, al Shabaab fighters searched for “spies”, Dhure said. This was corroborated by the district governor who told the BBC the terrorists were confiscating phones and imprisoning people in a desperate search for whoever might have tipped the Somali and US authorities to the presence of the camp.

Two al Shabaab commanders were claimed at the time to  have been killed. Yusuf Ali Ugas was described as an influential preacher, recruiter and regional commander. Mohammed Mire was reported to be a leading member of the group’s finance wing. Both were later found to be alive, as Africa Confidential reported.

Unnamed witnesses told Voice of America’s Somali service the aircraft made two passes over the camp, firing three missiles each time. Two Somali intelligence officials told Associated Press the training camp was in a forested area and was al Shabaab’s main planning base. One official said the targeted fighters were planning on attacking a drone base in the region.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook later said: “On Saturday, March 5, the US military, in self-defence and in defence of our African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) partners, conducted an airstrike in Somalia against Raso Camp, a training facility of al Shabaab, which is a terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda. The strike was conducted using manned and unmanned aircraft. The fighters who were scheduled to depart the camp posed an imminent threat to US and [Amisom] forces in Somalia.

The removal of these fighters degrades al Shabaab’s ability to meet the group’s objectives in Somalia, including recruiting new members, establishing bases, and planning attacks on US and Amisom forces. We continue to assess the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate.”

Peter Pham, director of the Africa Centre at the the Atlantic Council thinktank told the Wall Street Journal: “What was surprising was that [al] Shabaab felt confident enough to assemble in such a way… It may not hold territory like it held back five or six years ago, but it is far from being defeated and one can argue that the threat has actually expanded with the numerous attacks that it has carried out not only in Somalia, but across the border in northeastern Kenya.”

“That al Shabaab had that many recruits in training at just one location… is a worrying indicator of the group’s continued relevance and its power to attract… The fact that al Shabaab feels emboldened enough to gather so many together in one place, these are hardly signs of a group on the run,” Pham told the Guardian.

This was the highest death toll from a single attack hitherto recorded. The unprecedented death toll outstripped the previous highest: 81 killed in Pakistan in October 2006.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had carried out on a strike on what it says was “an al-Shabaab name objective” in Raso, Somalia on March 5th 2016.

The incident occured during the night.

At least three alleged members of al Shahaab were killed in an airstrike against Kunyo-Barow village. The US action killed Abdirahman Sandhere, a senior al Shabaab fighter, the US Defence of Department (DoD) declared, along with two other suspected members of the group. There are currently no reports of civilian harm from this strike.

The “military air strike” specifically targeted Sandhere (aka Ukash) but also killed two unidentified associates, the DoD reported.

Initial reports said the attack hit one or two buildings in Kunyo Barrow village, near the town of Barawe where the group’s leader Abu Ahmed Godane was killed in September. However a spokesperson for the US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “The strike occurred in one location and did not hit any structures.”

Sandhere was not among the six high value al Shabaab members listed at the time by the US on its Rewards for Justice programme. The DoD said, in a statement: “Ukash’s removal from the battlefield is a significant blow to al-Shabaab and reflects the painstaking work by our intelligence, military, and law enforcement professionals. This is an important step forward in the fight against al Shabaab, and the United States will continue to use the tools at our disposal – financial, diplomatic, intelligence and military – to dismantle al Shabaab and other terrorist groups who threaten [the USA], interests and persons. We will also continue to support our international partners, particularly the African Union Mission in Somalia, that are working to support the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia in building a secure and stable future for the Somali people.”

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM again confirmed it had carried out a strike on what it says was “an al-Shabaab named objective” in Kunyo Barrow, Somalia.

The incident occured in the morning.

A US strike targeted an al Shabaab base in Balad Amin in southern Somalia, killing between five and 10 of the group’s fighters.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported at the time that the US confirmed it carried out an airstrike “at approximately 4pm Eastern Time” – 1am November 22 local time – in defence of US and Somali forces.

A US spokesperson said: “US forces operating with Somali National Army (SNA) forces conducted a self-defence airstrike against al Shabaab… The al Shabaab forces were preparing to attack US and SNA forces. We are still assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information if and when appropriate.”

Police, residents and the district commissioner told journalists a drone carried out the attack either late on November 21st or early on November 22nd.

“We heard three big crashes at an al Shabaab base in Balad Amin last night. It looked like a drone but we have no news of casualties,” Adan Ahmed, a resident of the area, told Reuters.

“The drone targeted an al Shabaab base last night. So far we have the information that five fighters including the al Shabaab leader in charge of Lower Shabelle region died in the strike,” according to Major Abdiqadir Ahmed, a police officer based in Wanlaweyn.

The district commissioner of Wanlawayn town, Hajji Isack Ali Mamow, told Shabelle News a “late night airstrike against [the] al Shabaab base” hit as leaders in the armed group were having a meeting. The attack allegedly was carried out by an unidentified drone.

At least three junior al Shabaab commanders were reportedly among the dead. The strike reportedly hit near Ballidogle Airport which also serves as a base for Somalia’s special commandos who are trained from US soldiers.

However, it should be noted that Airwars was unable to retrieve the original statement from the AFRICOM spokesperson, and must thus rely on paraphrasing BIJ’s reporting, considering the event as confirmed.

The incident occured at approximately 1:00 am local time.