One US soldier dead in Yemen raid that killed 14 Al-Qaeda militants and 16 civilians
Three American troops also wounded in President Trump’s first military action that took place today and saw eight women and eight children left dead
AN American soldier has been killed and three injured in a raid by the US military in Yemen that left 14 Al-Qaeda fighters and 16 civilians dead.
The operation, which took place earlier today, was the first military action undertaken by Donald Trump in his presidency which comes just two days after he signed an executive order banning Muslims from entry to the US.
The US military said 14 Al-Qaeda militants had died in the attack but local reports in Yemen say the figure was actually 41.
The army also said that American troops had captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots”.
Eight women and eight children were among those killed in the dawn raid at Yakla, located in the central province of Baida, according to a local official.
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It is understood the raid targeted the houses of three tribal chiefs linked to Al-Qaeda and that Apache helicopters also struck a school, a mosque and a medical facility used by the terrorists.
The three tribal figures killed in the attack were identified locally as brothers Abdulraouf and Sultan al-Zahab as well as Saif Alawai al-Jawfi.
They were known in the local area for their strong links to Al-Qaeda with the Zahab brothers having two other brothers with links to the group killed in the past by drone strikes.
An Al-Qaeda official in the region, identified as foreigner Abu Barazan, is also thought to have been killed in the attack.
Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, the United States stepped up its use of drone strikes against suspected jihadists in Yemen, as well as other countries including Afghanistan.
US intelligence considers the Yemeni arm of the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to be its most dangerous franchise.
Although it only infrequently reports on a long-running bombing campaign against AQAP, the US military is the only force known to be operating drones over Yemen.
On January 14, the Pentagon announced the killing of another senior Al-Qaeda operative in Baida.
Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadist group have exploited a power vacuum created by the two-year-old conflict in Yemen between the government and Shiite Huthi rebels.
Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have mounted offensives against jihadists in the south but the militants remain active in several areas.
The conflict in Yemen has killed more than 7,400 people since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened to support Hadi in March 2015, according to the World Health Organization.
But UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said last week that as many as 10,000 civilians may have died.
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