On December 27th 2017, AFRICOM reported that it had “conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants on the morning of Dec. 24, 2017, in southern Somalia”.

AFRICOM made no mention of civilian harm. However, it claimed that the strike had killed “13 terrorists”. The strike hit southern Somalia according to officials, though no additional location details were provided at the time.

VOA reported that the action had been conducted by a drone: “‘The strike targeted the militants as they mobilized to launch an attack against our base. Fortunately, the military from a friendly nation disabled them with a drone strike and killed 13 of them,’ a Somali military commander in the area told VOA.”

The Daily Nation, a Kenyan news site, later said the strike had hit an al Shabaab training camp which they located in Ball Raho. It reported that two Kenyan nationals were “among Shabaab terrorists” injured in the strike and were currently being treated at an Al Shabaab operated medical facility, citing a document shared among Kenyan security.

The report by the Daily Nation named the two injured “terrorists” as Mohamed Ahmed Farah alias Mohamed Kheir, and Abdullahi Wilif from Wajir County.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM confirmed it had struck what it says were al Shabaab fighters on this date, in the vicinity of Qudus, Somalia.

The incident occured in the morning.

On December 18th 2017, AFRICOM reported that it had “conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants in the early evening hours on Friday, Dec. 15, approximately 30 miles northwest of Kismayo”. It added that “we assess no civilians were killed in the strike.”

However, AFRICOM claimed that the strike had killed “eight (8) terrorists” and destroyed “one vehicle”. It said the strike had hit approximately 30 miles northwest of Kismayo. News agency Xinhua spoke to a military official who said several strikes had hit Berhani, which they placed a similar distance from Kismayo. The official said the strikes had targeted an Al Shabaab base.

Xinhua also spoke to Berhani residents who said there were major explosions in the early hours of December 16th. “We heard huge explosions and the earth was shaking. We are told Al-Shabaab base was hit by American drones,” a resident said.

Reports from Kismayo indicates that an strike has been targeted on al shabab vehicle going by near Berhani village 60km west of Kismayo, preliminary reports said five of al shabab militants confirmed dead and others wounded, so far no one claimed the responsibility of that strike

— Khadar Hared (@khadarHared) December 16, 2017

IANS claimed that “several senior al Shabaab terrorists” were killed in the attack.

In a subsequent FOIA response obtained by journalist Joshua Eaton in May 2019, AFRICOM said it had struck what it says were al Shabaab fighters, in the vicinity of Qudus.

The incident occured during the night.

US Forces carried out a strike against an “al-Shabaab vehicle-borne improvised explosive device” in the early hours of December 12th, US Africa Command announced, which it said had removed an “imminent threat to the people of Mogadishu”.

The early morning strike hit 65 kilometers southwest of the capital, AFRICOM said (later noting that the strike was also 35 miles from the village of Illimey.) Ali Enure, the deputy governor of Lower Shabelle region, placed this event in the village of Mubarak in the Lower Shabelle region.

“The vehicle was loaded with explosives intended to harm civilians,” Enure told VOA. “Our intelligence sources in the area and local residents who saw the vehicle reported to us that the vehicle was destroyed, as a missile from a drone hit the hood.”

Al Shabaab reportedly claimed that photos showing damage to a minibus carrying bananas had in fact been the target vehicle. The light damage shown in pictures is relatively small considering local reports – and US Africa Command’s assertion – that the target vehicle was carrying explosives.

PHOTOS: Pictures show a mini bus carrying bananas that was hit a suspected US airstrike in Mubarak village on Tuesday morning. casualties unknown. pic.twitter.com/5JrdyHGXIa

— Hussein Mohamed (@HussienM12) December 12, 2017

AFRICOM said they had assessed that no civilians were killed in the strike. There were no further details on casualty figures.

In a July 2019 FOIA release, AFRICOM made passing reference to this same event though placed it on December 11th, noting that “On 11 December 2017, one week after the alleged incident [on December 6th], AFRICOM did strike a VBIED approximately 35 miles from this location but no secondary explosions were observed.”

The incident occured between 12:01 am and 6:00 am local time.