Local sources reported that “at least one top insurgent was killed in the US military-led strikes by unmanned aircraft”, which began in Zinjibar, on June 10, 2021. There were no reports of civilian harm.
While Reuters reported that airstrikes on Zinjibar stemmed from “state forces”, according to the editor of the Yemen Post, a strike on June 10th was the sixth by US drones since the May 5th attempt on Anwar al Awlaki.
Hakim Almasmari told The Bureau of Investigative Journalism that a Yemeni Ministry of Defence official had confirmed to him that 13 air force strikes claimed by the Yemeni government in the past month were actually the work of US drones: “Our aircraft fleet is very limited. Given that, and the targets being struck, and what the eye witnesses see, we have to believe what our sources on the ground are telling us.”
As the February uprising against President Saleh generated chaos in Yemen, the US appeared to be bolstering its attacks on militants. However it became increasingly difficult to disentangle reports of “drone strikes” from US or Yemeni air strikes, or other forms of combat.
CNN reported that, throughout Zinjibar, “heavy gunfire and explosions were heard… and planes were seen flying overhead and conducting airstrikes”, the fighting resulting in the deaths of at least “twenty-one al Qaeda members and 10 Yemeni soldiers’” between June 10th and 11th 2011.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Zinjibar (زنجبار), Abyan province, for which the coordinates are: 13.129059, 45.380422. Due to limited information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
