Al-Majalah camp attack

The al-Majalah camp attack also referred to as the al-Majalah massacre[1] occurred on December 17, 2009 when the United States military launched Tomahawk cruise missiles from a ship off the Yemeni coast on a Bedouin camp in the southern village of al-Majalah in Yemen, killing 14 alleged Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters and 41 civilians,[2][3][4][5][6] including 14 women and 21 children.

Al-Majalah camp attack
Part of the al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
TypeAirstrike
Location
al-Majalah, Abyan Governorate, Yemen

13.972°N 46.462°E / 13.972; 46.462
TargetAQAP (U.S. claim)
Date17 December 2009 (2009-12-17)
Executed by Joint Special Operations Command
Casualties55 (including 14 women and 21 children) killed
al-Majalah
Location of al-Majalah within Yemen

The attack

The al-Majalah camp attack took place on December 17, 2009, when United States launched cruise missiles at the site.[7][8] Initially, both the U.S. and Yemeni governments denied U.S. involvement in the strikes, despite accusations from Amnesty International.[9][10] Several months after the attack in Al Majalah, Amnesty International released photos showing an American cluster bomb and a propulsion unit from a Tomahawk cruise missile. A subsequent inquiry by the Yemeni parliament found that fourteen Al Qaeda fighters had been killed—along with forty-one civilians, including twenty-three children.[2]

A primary target in the attacks — Qasim al-Raymi, is suspected of or has taken credit for several attacks that killed many civilians and has threatened more attacks on the United States. For example, he is the al-Qaeda leader who was believed to be behind a 2007 bombing in central Yemen, that killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis — survived the attack.[11]

In media

See also
  • Abdulelah Haider Shaye, a prominent Yemeni journalist who was jailed after reporting US involvement in the attack.

References
  1. Scahill, Jeremy (2013-06-04). Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield Enhanced Edition for Nook. PublicAffairs. pp. 303–312. ISBN 9781568584843.
  2. Filkins, Dexter (6 February 2013). "What We Don't Know About Drones". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  3. "US: Reassess Targeted Killings in Yemen". Human Rights Watch. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  4. "Yemen drones strikes cause civilians to 'fear the US as much as al-Qaeda'". The Daily Telegraph. London. October 22, 2013.
  5. Hugh MacLeod and Nasser Arrabyee (January 3, 2010). "Yemeni air attacks on al-Qaida fighters risk mobilising hostile tribes". The Guardian. London.
  6. Raghavan, Sudarsan (2009-12-18). "Yemen asserts 34 rebels killed in raid on Qaeda". The Washington Post. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  7. "Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists". Abcnews.go.com. December 18, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  9. Spencer, Richard (7 June 2010). "US cluster bombs 'killed 35 women and children'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  10. "Images of missile and cluster munitions point to US role in fatal attack in Yemen".
  11. Hauslohner, Abigail (December 22, 2009). "Despite U.S. Aid, Yemen Faces Growing al-Qaeda Threat". Time.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.