Yemen: no bar on US operations
Seeks reassessment of raid in which 25 civilians were killed
ADEN // Yemen has asked for only a “reassessment” of a recent raid by US special forces that killed militants and dozens of civilians including women and children.
It has denied reports that it is suspending government permission for ground operations.
“Yemen continues to cooperate with the US and continues to abide by all the agreements,” foreign minister Abdul Malik Al Mekhlafi said yesterday.
He said the internationally recognised government was “in talks with the US administration on the latest raid”.
A senior Yemeni official said: “We made clear our reservations about the last operation. We said that in the future there needs to be more coordination with Yemeni authorities before any operation, and consideration for our sovereignty.”
The special forces operation on January 29 was the first counter-terrorism raid approved by US president Donald Trump.
It was also the first publicly known US ground operation since a failed December 2014 attempt to free two western hostages held by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The US worked closely with the government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and his predecessor on counter-terrorism operations against Aqap, who western security officials regard as Al Qaeda’s most dangerous branch.
But US counter-terrorism forces had to withdraw from Yemen in 2015 after the outbreak of the civil war, and last year the US started trying to rebuild its presence in the country.
That including sending a small contingent of special forces working with UAE forces in the south-east.
But last month’s raid on a small village in Bayda governorate has been seen as a partial failure and openly criticised by US military officials, who said they were not allowed to properly plan the operation.
Two dozen navy Seals backed by other forces had to call in air strikes after they met unexpected resistance while trying to collect intelligence and capture senior allies of Aqap.
The target of the raid is thought to have been the group’s leader, Qasim Al Raymi. While he was not captured, US officials say they took 14 other militants including Abdulrauf Al Dhahab, a tribal leader allied with Aqap.
Twenty-five civilians in the village of Yakla were killed, including 11 children and six women. Among them was the eightyear- old daughter of late US Aqap propagandist and leader, Anwar Al Awlaki, whose wife was Al Dhahab’s sister.
A US navy Seal was also killed in the fight, and three were se- riously injured when one of the rescue aircraft crash landed.
The raid angered the Yemeni government, which is backed by the US and the Saudi- led coalition. It said Al Dhahab was tribal leader allied to the government whose forces only fought Houthi rebels.
The raid threatened the government’s alliances with the tribe and other Al Dhabab supporters.
Meanwhile, 32 fighters, including 24 rebels, were killed yesterday as pro-government forces backed by the coalition recaptured most of the port town of Mokha from rebels after two days of fierce clashes.
Loyalists backed by the firepower of a Saudi-led Arab coalition entered the port town late last month as part of their efforts to drive the rebels away from the Red Sea coast.
But they then had to withdraw because of the many landmines and rebel snipers.