Thursday, December 12, 2013

American drone kills 15 wedding guests in Yemen



In 2011 an American drone killed 17-year old Abdel-Rahman al-Awlaki in Yemen together with his teenage cousin and six others. Abdel-Rahman had left his home in order to look for his father, preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who was suspected of having links to al-Qaida and shortl;y before also had been killed by an American drone. 

Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al-Qaida convoy, local security officials said on Thursday.
The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone.
"An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy, 10 people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital," one security official said.
Five more people were injured, the officials said.
The United States has stepped up drone strikes as part of a campaign against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the most active wing of the militant network.
Human Rights Watch said in a report in October that US missile strikes, including armed drone attacks, have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen.

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