Air strike kills 15 civilians in Yemen by mistake: officials


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(Reuters) - Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda 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, ten 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 Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the most active wing of the militant network.

Yemen, AQAP's main stronghold, is among a handful of countries where the United States acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment on the practice.

Human Rights Watch said in a detailed report in August that U.S. missile strikes, including armed drone attacks, have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen.

Stabilizing the country, which is also struggling with southern separatists and northern rebels, is an international priority due to fears of disorder in a state that flanks top oil producer Saudi Arabia and major shipping lanes.

On Monday, missiles fired from a U.S. drone killed at least three people travelling in a car in eastern Yemen.

(Reuters) - Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda 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, ten 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 Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the most active wing of the militant network.

Yemen, AQAP's main stronghold, is among a handful of countries where the United States acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment on the practice.

Human Rights Watch said in a detailed report in August that U.S. missile strikes, including armed drone attacks, have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen.

Stabilizing the country, which is also struggling with southern separatists and northern rebels, is an international priority due to fears of disorder in a state that flanks top oil producer Saudi Arabia and major shipping lanes.

On Monday, missiles fired from a U.S. drone killed at least three people travelling in a car in eastern Yemen.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-yemen-strike-idUSBRE9BB10O20131212?irpc=932

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Yeah I just don't get how this is still happening. Policies won't change until there's a good enough reason to and that reason will likely be another attack on our soil eventually then all hell will break loose.

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Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday.

 

They can't tell the difference between a wedding and a terrorist convoy?

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If you automatically exclude "wedding parties" half the AQ operatives will get fittings for tux and wedding dresses.

War is Hell, and sometimes civilians die. Especially when irregular forces hide as, and among, civilians. Sad, but it's been true for over 50,000 years.

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If you automatically exclude "wedding parties" half the AQ operatives will get fittings for tux and wedding dresses.

War is Hell, and sometimes civilians die. Especially when irregular forces hide as, and among, civilians. Sad, but it's been true for over 50,000 years.

 

Wouldn't make much difference it seems if they're killed accidentally anyway. 

 

It's sad these kind of strikes continue and all it does is build resentment amongst the people there against the US. Guess we'll see the fallout of this in the next few years. 

 

Don't give me that "War is Hell, and sometimes civilians die. "  If this kind of thing happened in any developed country it wouldn't be allowed. 

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If you automatically exclude "wedding parties" half the AQ operatives will get fittings for tux and wedding dresses.

War is Hell, and sometimes civilians die. Especially when irregular forces hide as, and among, civilians. Sad, but it's been true for over 50,000 years.

How many US citizens has Al Qaeda killed since 9/11? How many innocents has the US killed since 9/11 in this 'war on terror?'

 

Hell, include 9/11 in the Al Qaeda count. Now tell me, why are US citizens more important than any other population on the earth? This is how I understand the view of US officials on this war on terror. The life of one American is apparently worth the lives of many more than one non-American. Simply put, there should be no drone strikes. As a result there would be no innocents killed as a result of drone strikes, and this article would have never been published (because it would've never happened).

 

I wonder how many more terrorist attacks on US soil there would've been if we invested in securing our borders and proper investigation channels (not NSA warantless wiretapping), rather than these wars and drones. Probably the same as today: none.

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If you automatically exclude "wedding parties" half the AQ operatives will get fittings for tux and wedding dresses.

War is Hell, and sometimes civilians die. Especially when irregular forces hide as, and among, civilians. Sad, but it's been true for over 50,000 years.

 

Fine, then let's unleash the drones on the butt crack of America that is Detroit. If people die... oh well. "War is Hell" after all. /s

 

Seriously, the US will continue drone attacks because at this point they can. The world was probably better off when the USSR could keep us in check. Now we're just bullies and one day our nose will get bloodied again. But the thing about bullies the rest of the world needs to remember; most of the time they're just scared little children who have to act tough to hide their fear.

 

America is going down a path destined for doom.

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