A summary of US actions in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia in the secret war on terror.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Bureau\u2019s Covert War project tracks drone strikes and other US military and paramilitary actions in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Here we summarise our key work and findings for May.<\/p>\n

Yemen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

May 2012 actions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Confirmed US drone strikes: 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Further reported\/ possible US strike events: 18<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alleged militants reported killed in US operations: 23 \u2013 171<\/strong><\/p>\n

Civilians reported killed in US strikes: 1 \u2013 31<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

All Actions 2002 \u2013 2012*<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total confirmed US operations: 44 \u2013 54<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total confirmed US drone strikes: 31 \u2013 41<\/strong><\/p>\n

Possible additional US operations: 86 \u2013 95<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of which possible additional US drone strikes: 48 \u2013 54<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total reported killed: 317 \u2013 814<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total civilians killed: 58 \u2013 138<\/strong><\/p>\n

Children killed: 24<\/strong>
Click here for the full Yemen data<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As in April, intense fighting meant that Yemen again dominated the Bureau\u2019s reporting. Five US drone strikes were confirmed by US or Yemeni officials.<\/p>\n

However, an additional 18 possible US strikes were also reported, allegedly involving not only drones but US naval vessels and aircraft. Among these were up to four attacks by warships on militant positions. It was also confirmed that American F-15 Strike Eagles<\/a> are now based at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, adding weight to claims of US air sorties over Yemen.<\/p>\n

With few confirmed operations it was difficult to pin down precise casualty figures. The Bureau\u2019s data shows that between 23 and 171 people died in US operations in May, including a number of named senior militants such as Fahd al-Quso<\/a>. However, among the dead were up to 31 civilians. Between 8 and 26 civilians died<\/a> in just one incident in Jaar on May 15, though this may have been the work of the Yemen Air Force.<\/p>\n

US troops were also reported to be just 40 miles from the front lines, helping to direct a Yemeni military offensive aimed at driving Islamist insurgents from cities in the south. Saying that its actions were in retaliation, Ansar al Sharia killed more than 100 soldiers in a suicide bomb attack on Sanaa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* All but one of these actions have taken place during the Obama presidency. Reports of incidents in Yemen often conflate individual strikes. The range in the total strikes and total drone strikes we have recorded reflects this. <\/em><\/p>\n

Pakistan<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

May 2012 actions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total CIA strikes in May: 6<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total killed in US strikes in May: 32 \u2013 45<\/strong>, of whom 3 \u2013 18<\/strong> were reportedly civilians<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

All Actions 2004 \u2013 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total Obama strikes: 275<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total US strikes since 2004: 327<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total reported killed: 2,464 \u2013 3,148<\/strong><\/p>\n

Civilians reported killed: 482 \u2013 830<\/strong><\/p>\n

Children reported killed: 175<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total reported injured: 1,181 \u2013 1,294<\/strong>
For the Bureau\u2019s full Pakistan databases click here<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Six CIA strikes hit North Waziristan in May, up from just one the previous month, even as Pakistan bluntly and publicly protested the attacks<\/a>. Washington and Islamabad also continued to seek a resolution to their ongoing dispute over NATO supply routes, the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers last November, and the drone strikes themselves.<\/p>\n

On May 5 the CIA killed up to ten people, including possibly civilians, in a strike the Pakistan government called \u2018illegal\u2019 and \u2018totally counter-productive<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

<\/a>CIA drone strikes in Pakistan<\/em><\/p>\n

After a further 18-day pause there was a barrage of five strikes in six days. Between 24 and 32 people died \u2013 three to eight reportedly civilians. Nine others were reported injured. Among the locations hit by the CIA were a mosque<\/a> and a bakery<\/a>. On one occasion, drones returned after a pause of some 20 minutes to strike again, a tactic last seen in summer 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Details also emerged<\/a> that Barack Obama had not only been aware of civilian deaths in Pakistan drone strikes since the start of his presidency, but that he had also authorised the widening of the definition of \u2018combatant\u2019 to incorporate all adult military-aged males killed.<\/p>\n

Somalia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

May 2012 actions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total US operations: 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total EU operations: 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total casualties from US operations: 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

All Actions 2007 \u2013 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total US operations: 10 \u2013 21<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total US drone strikes: 3 \u2013 9<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total reported killed: 58 \u2013 169<\/strong><\/p>\n

Civilians reported killed: 11 \u2013 57<\/strong><\/p>\n

Children reported killed: 1 \u2013 3<\/strong>
Click here for the Bureau\u2019s full data on Somalia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were no reported US military actions in May.<\/p>\n

Separately, on May 22 the European Union launched its first known strike against a land-based pirate operation, destroying nine speedboats, an arms dump and fuel supplies.<\/p>\n

Previously restricted to intercepting pirates at sea, on March 23 the EU had expanded Navfor\u2019s mandate<\/a> to allow for strikes on pirate supplies and infrastructure. The EU agreement stipulated that individuals cannot be targeted and soldiers cannot land on Somali soil.<\/p>\n

Significant elements of the operation remain unclear. Navfor said its strike was carried out using helicopters \u2018organic\u2019 to the flotilla\u2019s ships, though would not identify which nations had carried out the strike.<\/p>\n

Following the Bureau report that the French amphibious assault ship Dixmude<\/em> and its contingent of Tigre<\/em> attack helicopters had not taken part in the attack, an anonymous intelligence officer told Defence Report<\/a> that the destruction of the pirates\u2019 boats could only have been achieved with the aid of a ground assault. If so, it was unclear which nation\u2019s troops would have carried out such an attack.<\/p>\n

A boy was reportedly left in a critical condition on May 29 after two Kenyan warships<\/a> shelled Kismayo, an al Shabaab controlled port in the south of Somalia. The Kenyan navy claimed al Shabaab fired on the vessels first. The residents of the town and the militant group contradicted this, saying the shelling was unprovoked.<\/p>\n

Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yemen<\/strong>: US ground forces help direct an escalating clandestine war against al Qaeda and its allies, despite official denials.\u00a0Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pakistan<\/strong>: Ignoring Islamabad\u2019s repeated high-level protests CIA strikes rise to six in May. Civilians are reportedly among 32-45 killed.\u00a0Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Somalia<\/strong>: Although no US activity is recorded the EU attacks pirates onshore for the first time in a possible ground-based military action.\u00a0Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To sign up for monthly updates from the Bureau\u2019s Covert War project click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61518,"template":"","tags":[477,471,470,478,480],"country":[437,436,435],"belligerent":[430],"authors":[559,569],"class_list":["post-61519","news_and_analysis","type-news_and_analysis","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-drone-warfare","tag-stories","tag-tbij-covert-drone-wars-archive","tag-us-civilian-harm","tag-us-transparency","country-pakistan","country-somalia","country-yemen","belligerent-us-forces","authors-chris-woods","authors-jack-serle"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_and_analysis\/61519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_and_analysis"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_and_analysis"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61519"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=61519"},{"taxonomy":"belligerent","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/belligerent?post=61519"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwars.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=61519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}