Why strafe goats?
The villages on the Saiq plateau are still rather isolated, at 2000 m above sea level. It is a hard drive to get there. 50 years ago, they were essentially cut off from the Nizwa valley below, and the road that exists today was a mere track. And they did not have 4WD trucks. So the villagers were dependent on their meagre stocks of sheep and goats for meat and milk. Thus the RAF deemed that goats were a strategic, or at least tactical, target. Also having Shackletons dropping 1000 pounders and Venoms whistling overhead at rooftop level (and in Owen's case, unfortunately even lower) was thought to be demoralising.
So the RAF strafed goats while the SAS tackled the "rebel" soldiers.
Laurence