Al Shabaab: the Rise and Fall from Black Hawk Down to Westgate and Beyond

Appendix of foreign military action since 2007 in Somalia:

This appendix is built from collected tweets of @DroneStream – reporting every US drone strike since 2002  – cross referenced with at least two major news outlets confirming the initial Somali reported story or an acknowledgement or statement from the US government. Disputed reports have single sources or disputed origins of the striking force and, as such, cannot be attributed to a foreign military intervention. For the sake of space, al Shabaab has been shortened to ALS.

This rigorous confirmation process is to prevent corruption of the timeline from Iranian Press TV reports, which has reported on 56 US drone strikes within Somalia, which, according to their sources, have killed 1,370 . However, a detailed and thorough evaluation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism discovered only four attacks could be identified .

The timeline, produced by the HIC, enlarges on previous work conducted by The Bureau and Global Research. Global Research’s own report into US strikes reported that an estimated 3-9 US drone strikes and a further 7-14 covert US operations have occurred in Somalia since 2001 with a total of 54-170 militants killed and 8-60 civilians killed, with a reported 14-44 injured .

CONFIRMED – October 6th  2013 – In the wake of the Westgate mall attack in Kenya, a team from the US Navy SEAL Naval Warfare Development Group (DevGru, also known colloquially by its previous moniker SEAL Team Six) swam ashore with a mission to kill or capture Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, known as Ikrimah, in a villa in Barawe. A fierce 15-20 minute fire-fight ensued and the SEAL team could not complete their objective. At least one ALS militant was killed, which was confirmed by a group spokesman. The raid was co-ordinated with the Delta Force capture of al Qaeda’s Abu Anas al-Libi in Tripoli, Libya. Al Shabaab claimed British SAS and Turkish Special Forces took part in the raid but there is no evidence to back these claims.

CONFIRMED – May 27th 2013 – Scheobel Camcopter S-100 crashes near the town of Bulo-Marer, near Mogadishu. Believed to have been operated by France. The drone was operating near the location of the January 12th 2013 failed French commando mission to rescue Denis Allex, a French intelligence officer.

DISPUTED – Aug 24th 2012 – It is possible that international forces launched strikes either by air or naval forces near the town of Qandala, Puntland.

CONFIRMED – May 15th 2012 – EU Naval Forces (NAVFOR) under Operation Atlanta attacked an alleged pirate base near Haradheere destroying nine speedboats, an arm dump and fuel supplies

CONFIRMED – Feb 24th 2012 – 4 ALS fighters killed (at least one being an international fighter, a white Kenyan killed in the strike was not the target) in an attack in the Lower Shabelle region, Southern Somalia – Confirmed by Somalian and US defence officials

CONFIRMED – Jan 21, 2012 – Foreign commander of ALS with links to Al Qaeda, Bilal al-Barjawi (27) killed about 8 miles south of Mogadishu. US drone possibly located him due to receiving a phone call from his wife in London on the birth of his child whilst driving near the town of Elasha Biyaha. He was a veteran fighter having joined ALS after fighting in Afghanistan in 2006, the same year his British citizenship was revoked.

CONFIRMED – Nov 14, 2011 – Between 0-2 Islamic insurgency leaders killed by an unknown drone strike in Afgoye during a meeting of ALS commanders. US Pentagon officials denied involvement and instead suggested French origins.

DISPUTED – Oct 23, 2011 – Possible Kenyan airstrike but also attributed to France and the US. 0-1 killed in Kismayo

DISPUTED – Oct 22 2011 – At least 11 civilians killed and more than 20 others wounded after a US drone strike on Afmadow, Lower Jubba

DISPUTED – Oct 13 2011 – Somali National Forces claim a drone strike from a friendly nation destroyed a large ALS base near Taabta. Unknown casualties.

DISPUTED – Oct 6, 2011 – US drone fired two missiles in Dolbiyow village, 35km east of Dhobley district in Somalia’s Lower Juba region. Target believed to have been ALS convoy transiting through the village. Locals claim strike killed 4 farmers and ‘at least 10 camels’. Local Somalia Transitional Government Forces claim that ALS mortar attacks were responsible for the deaths.

CONFIRMED – Sep 25, 2011 – US MQ-1 Predator drones attacked three targets within the port city of Kismayo. Residents reported ‘explosions around the city’. Reports that ALS contributed to the crash of a “large drone”.

DISPUTED – Sep 15 2011 – Residents of Kismayo reported hearing aircraft and sounds of three explosions. There was no further confirmation.

DISPUTED – Jul 6 2011 – Unknown number killed when airstrikes hit three ALS militant training camps in Afmadow, Lower Jubba. No evidence to suggest it was a US drone strike.

CONFIRMED – Jun 23, 2011: Somalia’s first known lethal drone strike, 0-3 mid-level operatives of ALS were killed and ‘others’ injured. Pentagon confirmed that the strike was carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command. US helicopters arrived to retrieve some of the dead and injured for verification and intelligence purposes.

CONFIRMED – Sep 14th 2009 – US Navy SEAL Special Forces kill Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior leader of the group after three years of tracking. Intelligence indicated that he was part of the operation that carried out the 1998 bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Five other militants were killed while breakfasting.

CONFMIRED – May 1 2008 – US naval forces launch at least four Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of strike plan against a meeting of insurgent leaders in Dusa Marreb. At least two senior commanders died, ALS leader Aden Hashi Ayro and Sheikh Muhyadin Omar. Up to 15 militants died with five children.

CONFIRMED – Mar 3rd 2008 – Pentagon confirms that the US conducted an attack against known Al Qaeda terrorists operating in Southern Somalia. The strike, possibly by an AC-130 gunship, targeted Hassan Turki and al Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. Witnesses report that 4-8 civilians died with 3-8 injured.

CONFIRMED – Jun 1 2007 – USS Chafee fired more than a dozen rounds from its 5-inch gun against 35 heavily armed militants near Bargal, Puntland. The fire support mission was in co-ordination with three American counter-terror officials working alongside Somali and Ethiopian troops. 8-12 militants died.

DISPUTED – March 2007 – SAS and US Delta Force enter Somalia to identify the remains of foreign fighters killed in Jan 23rd mission, DNA samples from 50 bodies was recovered.

CONFIRMED – Jan 23rd 2007 – AC-130 gunship operating from eastern Ethiopia targets Ahmed Madobe and deputy UIC leader Hassan Turki. Madobe survived the attack but was captured by US and Ethiopian forces. 8 others militants were killed.

DISPUTED – Jan 9th 2007 – Between 4-31 civilians including 1 child were killed in Hayi by a possible US helicopter strike. In a separate incident, a US AC-130 gunship conducted a strike against members of an East Africa al Qaeda cell in four towns near Ras Kamboni. Between 5-10 militants reported to have been killed. The latter attack was denied by US officials but cables released by Wikileaks and an anonymous intelligence officials speaking to the press confirmed the attack.

CONFIRMED – Jan 7 2007 – An AC-130 gunship attacks a suspected al Qaeda convoy after being tracked by a Predator drone. Pentagon confirmed that targets were related to the 1998 embassy bombings. Somali government confirmed 2 civilians died and “many” nomadic tribal men. This was denied by US and instead claimed 8 militants died and three were injured.

This analysis is a joint effort by HIC research assistant Phil Cane and HIC senior fellow Simon Schofield.

Simon Schofield is contactable at:

Simon.Schofield@hscentre.org

Please cite this article as:

Schofield, S. and Cane, P. (2013). ‘Al Shabaab: the Rise and Fall from Black Hawk Down to Westgate and Beyond’

Human Security Centre, Defence and Security, Issue 4, No. 3.

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