Geolocation
Airwars assessment
US declared airstrikes near Cadale, Middle Shabelle, Somalia on December 14, 2022 allegedly killed seven al-Shabaab militants, with no civilians killed or injured. Statements from the Somali government put casualty counts at 88 al-Shabaab militants killed in Middle Shabelle.
AFRICOM released a statement on December 18th that “At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted two collective self-defense strikes, one each on Dec. 14 and 17, 2022, in support of Somali National Army engagements against al-Shabaab near Cadale, Somalia. The Dec. 14 strike took place 176 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu, in the vicinity of Cadale. The current assessment is 7 al-Shabaab terrorists were killed….U.S. Africa Command’s initial assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed in either strike.”
@BCFinucane pointed out that the US Congress failed to include a provision in the military spending bill that would have restricted designation of partner force eligible for collective self defense strikes.
A tweet from @dhoorebbc quoted Somalia’s Deputy Information Minister, who told state media that 88 al-Shabaab terrorists were killed in Juhay village in Middle Shabelle region in an operation carried out by the Somali National Army with support of airstrikes from the US. VOA also pointed out that the Somalia government said on December 15th that 88 al-Shabab fighters were killed in the 48-hour operation, which was conducted in collaboration with international partners.
VOA News reported that the government also published images and videos of what they alleged were al-Shabaab fighters killed in the operation, in addition to announcing that an al-Shabaab commander identified as Yusuf Mohamed Jingab was among those killed in the operation.
The local time of the incident is unknown.
Summary
Sources (8) [ collapse]
Geolocation notes
Reports of the incident mention the town of Cadale, for which the generic coordinates are: 2.762617, 46.321699. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.
US Forces Assessment:
Original strike reports
At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted two collective self-defense strikes, one each on Dec. 14 and 17, 2022, in support of Somali National Army engagements against al-Shabaab near Cadale, Somalia.
The Dec. 14 strike took place 176 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu, in the vicinity of Cadale. The current assessment is 7 al-Shabaab terrorists were killed.
The Dec. 17 strike took place approximately 220 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu, also in the vicinity of Cadale. The command’s initial assessment is 8 al-Shabaab terrorists were killed.
U.S. Africa Command’s initial assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed in either strike.
U.S. Africa Command takes great measures to prevent civilian casualties. Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command’s operations to promote greater security for all Africans.
Al-Shabaab is the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world and has proven both its will and capability to attack Somali, East African, and American civilians. U.S. kinetic actions against al-Shabaab in Somalia are conducted in support of the Federal Government of Somalia's ongoing campaign to disrupt terrorist operations in their country.
Somalia remains key to the stability and security in all of East Africa. U.S. Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to give them the tools that they need to defeat al-Shabaab.
U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of these operations and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operations security.