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US commando dies in Yemen raid
An aircraft malfunction led to what the Pentagon called a “hard landing in a nearby location”. Commandos intentionally destroyed the aircraft, which local residents and officials said was a helicopter. The US was said to have staged Saturday’s raid offshore, from an aircraft carrier in the region. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our elite service members,” said Gen Joseph Votel, commander of US forces in the Middle East and south Asia. “These sacrifices are very profound in our fight against terrorists who threaten innocent peoples across the globe." Central Command, in a Sunday statement, said “an estimated” 14 members of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had been killed in the raid. It provided no indication regarding the raid’s objective. In a statement, Trump said: “A life of a heroic service member has been taken in our fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism,” and said his “deepest thoughts and humblest prayers are with the family of this fallen service member”. He added: “The sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces, and the families they leave behind, are the backbone of the liberty we hold so dear as Americans, united in our pursuit of a safer nation and a freer world.” Central Command said the raid included “the capture of information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots”. Local witnesses cited by Reuters said the gun battle in the rural Yakla district of Bayda province killed Abdulraoof al-Dhahab, a senior AQAP leader, along with other militants. Unidentified Yemeni security officials reportedly said three senior al-Qaida leaders were killed. More via Dawn:  Elite US forces launched a dawn raid against Al Qaeda in Yemen on Sunday, killing at least 14 suspected militants in an operation in which an American soldier also died.The assault marked Washington’s first major military action in Yemen under President Donald Trump, who has vowed to step up the fight against “Islamic” extremism. The US military said the raid in the Yakla region of Baida province killed 14 members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which Washington views as the global network’s most dangerous branch. A Yemeni provincial official gave a higher toll of 41 presumed militants and 16 civilians killed in the raid, including eight women and eight children. Washington did not specify how the US soldier died. It said three American servicemen were injured in the raid along with a fourth one who was hurt in a “hard landing”. A US defence official later said that “no prisoners had been taken” during the operation.  Sunday’s US raid was said to have targeted the houses of three tribal chiefs linked to Al Qaeda.The provincial official said Apache helicopters also struck a school, a mosque and a medical facility which were all used by Al Qaeda militants. The three prominent tribal figures killed in the attack were identified as brothers Abdulraouf and Sultan al-Zahab and Saif Alawai al-Jawfi, the official and other sources said. They were known to be linked to Al Qaeda, the sources said. Among the children killed in the raid was the daughter of the late US-born preacher Anwar al-Awlaqi, Nura, who lived with the family of her maternal uncle, a relative said.  Awlaqi himself was killed in September 2011 in a drone strike and his son Abulrahman was killed two weeks later in a similar attack.Local officials said an Al Qaeda chief in the region was also killed in Sunday’s raid. The operation resulted in the capture of information that would “provide insight into the planning of future terrorist plots”, said the military authorities. Posted by: Steve White 2017-01-30 |
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