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US strikes in Yemen have killed dozens of civilians, says report | US strikes in Yemen have killed dozens of civilians, says report |
(about 1 hour later) | |
US missile strikes, including armed drone attacks, have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen as Washington tries to crack down on al-Qaida in the country, a prominent human rights organisation said on Tuesday. | |
In a 96-page report, Human Rights Watch detailed what it called six "unacknowledged" US military attacks on targets in Yemen, which either clearly, or possibly, violated international law. | |
Eighty-two people, 57 of whom were civilians, were killed during the six attacks studied. One of the incidents occurred in 2009. The other five happened in 2012-2013. | |
The Human Rights Watch report came as Amnesty International issued a report on US drone strikes in Pakistan. | The Human Rights Watch report came as Amnesty International issued a report on US drone strikes in Pakistan. |
Two strikes in Yemen - one in September 2012 and the other in December 2009 - caused what Human Rights Watch called the largest numbers of civilian casualties. | |
On 2 September 2012, as two US drones flew above the target area, either two additional drones or two warplanes attacked a vehicle travelling north from the central Yemeni city of Radaa. | On 2 September 2012, as two US drones flew above the target area, either two additional drones or two warplanes attacked a vehicle travelling north from the central Yemeni city of Radaa. |
That attack killed 12 passengers in the vehicle, including three children and a pregnant woman, in violation of a law of war prohibiting attacks that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants, Human Rights Watch said. | That attack killed 12 passengers in the vehicle, including three children and a pregnant woman, in violation of a law of war prohibiting attacks that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants, Human Rights Watch said. |
The group said the apparent target of the raid was a tribal leader named Abd al-Raouf al-Dahab. He was not in the vehicle when it was attacked and that it was not clear that he was a member of al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. | The group said the apparent target of the raid was a tribal leader named Abd al-Raouf al-Dahab. He was not in the vehicle when it was attacked and that it was not clear that he was a member of al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. |
Of the six cases it studied, Human Rights Watch said at least four of the strikes were carried out by missile-firing drones. A fifth was carried out either by drones or planes, with the sixth by cruise missiles that the group said released cluster bombs. | |
On 17 December 2009, an attack by as many as five US navy cruise missiles struck a Yemeni hamlet, killing what the Yemeni government initially described as 34 terrorists at a training camp. | On 17 December 2009, an attack by as many as five US navy cruise missiles struck a Yemeni hamlet, killing what the Yemeni government initially described as 34 terrorists at a training camp. |
However, Human Rights Watch said a Yemeni government inquiry later established that although 14 fighters for al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate were killed in the attack, so were at least 41 civilians, including nine women and 21 children. | However, Human Rights Watch said a Yemeni government inquiry later established that although 14 fighters for al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate were killed in the attack, so were at least 41 civilians, including nine women and 21 children. |
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