SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch, marking the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump's new administration.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."
The Central Command statement said 14 militants from al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."
Yemeni security and tribal officials said the surprise dawn assault in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.
The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.
The U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.
An official with al-Qaida confirmed the killings, describing the attack as a "massacre" and saying that women and children had been killed as well. The official sent to The Associated Press in Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid.
It's already a failed state. What is this, a Vice report?
Gavin Wilson
Oy vey, but that's a war crime goys-I mean guys. You don't want to stop fighting with a hand tied behind your back do you? We need to announce our military actions publicly months in advance so that terrori-uh, freedom fighter rebels, can know what's happening. Donald is keeping his promises, holy shit, we're going Soviet on the Middle East, wew
Grayson Gray
Nice
Nolan Richardson
reported
Dylan Turner
PICK ONE
Gavin Campbell
...
Brayden Ortiz
The Yemen war is a Saudi Arabian land grab. SA has an agreement with Israel because some land Israel wants for Greater Israel is in north SA. Israel is helping SA lobby in the USA for USA support of their Yemen war. Dirty fucking semites need to all burn.
Grayson Murphy
do the houthis have overlap wiht this 'al-qaida' group?
im not entirely up to speed on yemen
Eli Cooper
They are working you Tel Aviv boys too hard
Noah Wright
They are right though. Pissrael doesn't have to lift even a finger thanks to the US of ZOG.
Michael Hughes
This. America is Israel's army, nothing more, nothing less
Oliver Taylor
And why would Israel care about Zog involving itself in yet an other country? This is Fox News-tier patriotardism
Jason Lopez
Fighting for Pissrael isn't even patriotic.
Jacob Cruz
So, yemen is doing great? Al qaeda(Mossad) leave.
Ian Green
(heiled) I regret it, but didn't know any better
Austin Price
Fuck, with the exception of Yemen, these are the same countries Wesley Clark said they planned on invading.
Cooper Hernandez
bbb…but based Mad Dog Mattis!
Robert Moore
Yeah, who would have thought the guy who has been clamoring for war against Iran would be a zogbot????
Hunter Lee
He went after those countries because, the Congress under Obama had already passed restrictions against the same list, a good number of Dems supported it to boot. It's 2.5D chess, really.
Justin Myers
Anyone who had half a brain and an ounce of actual american patriotism got out of the military years ago.
