US commando dies in Yemen raid that kills 30

SANAA (Reuters) – A US commando died in a dawn raid in southern Yemen on Sunday that killed about 30 people, including al-Qaida suspects and civilians, the US military and local Yemeni officials said.

It was the first combat casualty of the Trump administration and its first operation in the war-damaged Arabian Peninsula nation against a powerful al-Qaida branch that has been a frequent target of US drone strikes.

The gun battle in the rural Yakla district of al-Bayda province killed a senior leader in Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, Abdulraoof al-Dhahab, along with other terrorists, al-Qaida said.

Medics at the scene said 30 people were killed, including 10 women and three children.

The US military said in a statement that 14 al-Qaida terrorists died in the raid, which netted “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

Three US commandos were also wounded in the operation in which a military aircraft experienced a hard landing and was “intentionally destroyed in place.”

“The operation began at dawn when a drone bombed the home of Abdulraoof al-Dhahab and then helicopters flew up and unloaded paratroopers at his house and killed everyone inside,” one resident said, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Next, the gunmen opened fire at the US soldiers who left the area, and the helicopters bombed the gunmen and a number of homes and led to a large number of casualties.”

A Yemeni security officer and a local official corroborated that account. Fahd, a local resident who asked that only his first name be used, said several bodies remained under debris and that houses and the local mosque were damaged in the attack.