Drone strikes in Yemen

Drone strikes in Yemen
Part of the War on Terror
and the Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
DateJanuary 2002-present
LocationYemen
Status

Ongoing

  • 108-128 drone strikes launched
Belligerents

 United States

AQAP

Other militant groups
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
0 798-1,031 militants killed[1] or
395-664 militants killed[2][3]
65-105 civilians killed[4][5][6]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, NATO tried to attack the Islamist militant presence in Yemen using drone warfare.[7]

Timeline

2010

In May 2010 an errant US drone attack targeting al Qaeda terrorists in Wadi Abida, Yemen, killed five people, among them Jaber al-Shabwani, deputy governor of Maarib province who was mediating between the government and the militants. The killing so angered Shabwani's tribesmen that in the subsequent weeks they fought heavily with government security forces, twice attacking a major oil pipeline in Maarib.[8]

2011

On May 5, 2011, a missile fired from a U.S. drone killed Abdullah and Mosaad Mubarak, brothers who may have been militants. The missile was fired on their car and both died instantly.[9][10] The strike was aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, but al-Awlaki survived.[11]

On 3 June 2011 American manned jets or drones attacked and killed Abu Ali al-Harithi, a midlevel al-Qaeda operative, and several other militant suspects, including Ammar Abadah Nasser al-Wa'eli, in a strike in southern Yemen.[12] Four civilians were also reportedly killed in the strike. The strike was reportedly coordinated by American special forces and CIA operatives based in Sana.[13] According to the Associated Press, in 2011 the US government began building an airbase near or in Yemen from which the CIA and US military plans to operate drones over Yemen.[14][15] The Washington Post reported that the US previously used a base in Djibouti to operate drones over Yemen.[16] The Wall Street Journal reports that a US drone base in the Seychelles could be used to operate drones over Yemen.[17]

According to local residents and unnamed American and Yemeni government officials, on 14 July 2011 US manned aircraft or drones attacked and destroyed a police station in Mudiya in Abyan Province which had been occupied by al Qaeda militants. Yemeni media and government gave conflicting accounts on the number of casualties, estimated at between 6 and 50 killed. The same day and nearby, drone missiles reportedly hit a car belonging to Yemeni al Qaeda leader Fahd al-Quso, but al-Quso survived the attack.[18][19][20][21][22]

On 1 August 2011, US drones and reportedly Yemeni aircraft attacked three targets with bombs and missiles in South Yemen, killing 15 suspected al Qaeda militants and wounding 17 others. The locations targeted included al-Wahdah, al-Amodiah, and al-Khamilah in Abyan province. One of those killed was reportedly militant leader Naser al-Shadadi. According to the Yemen Post "At least 35 US drone attacks were reported in Yemen over the last two month."[23][24][25]

On 24 August 2011, unidentified aircraft attacked suspected al-Qaeda militants near Zinjibar. The strikes reportedly killed 30 militants and wounded 40 others.[26]

According to Yemeni officials as reported in the Long War Journal, US airstrikes in southeast Abyan province on 30 August to 1 September 2011 killed 30 AQAP militants. The militants were reportedly engaged in combat with Yemeni military forces.[27]

Two airstrikes by US-operated aircraft on 21 September 2011 reportedly killed four AQAP fighters in Abyan and seven AQAP fighters in Shaqra.[28]

On 30 September 2011, US drone-launched missiles killed four people, including Al Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, in Al Jawf Governorate. The strike also killed Samir Khan, American-born editor of Inspire magazine. The strike marked the first known time that the US had deliberately targeted US citizens in a drone attack.[29]

A reported drone strike in Zinjibar on 5 October 2011 killed five AQAP militants.[30] According to Yemeni government officials, a US airstrike on 14 October 2011 killed seven AQAP militants, including Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Bana, AQAP's media chief.[31]

A drone strike on 22 December 2011 near Zinjibar reportedly killed Abdulrahman al-Wuhayshi, a relative of Yemeni al-Qaeda leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi. A further eight militants were reported killed in an air strike near Jaʿār on 17 December 2011.[32]

2012

An airstrike, reportedly performed by US aircraft, on 31 January 2012 near the city of Lawder in Abyan province, killed 11 AQAP militants. The dead reportedly included Abdul Monem al-Fahtani, a participant in the USS Cole bombing.[33]

Drones engaged in three attacks over three days from 9–11 March 2012. The first strike targeted an AQAP hideout near Al Baydah, Baydah province, reportedly killing local AQAP leader Abdulwahhab al-Homaiqani and 16 of his militants. The second strike hit Jaʿār in Abyan province, reportedly killing 20 AQAP fighters. The third strike, also in Jaʿār, reportedly killed three AQAP militants and targeted a storage location for weapons AQAP had seized after overruning a Yemeni military base in Al Koud the week before.[34] A fourth drone strike on 14 March 2012 in Al Bydah reportedly killed four AQAP militants in a vehicle.[35]

On April 11, 14 militants were killed in a drone strike in Lauder town, northeast of Zinjibar, Abyan province.[36] A drone strike on 22 April in the Al Samadah area, near the border of Marib and Al Jawf provinces, killed AQAP senior leader Mohammed Saeed al Umda (also known as Ghareeb al Taizi).[37]

On 6 May 2012 a suspected US drone strike killed Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso and another al Qaida militant in southern Shabwa province.[38]

2013

On 12 December 2013, 17 people[39][40] were killed in a wedding convoy in the District of Rada' which falls in the Governorate of Al-Bayda'.[41] The U.S. drone mistakenly targeted a wedding convoy after intelligence reports identified the vehicles as carrying suspects of the AQAP organization.[42] Five of the killed had been suspected, but the remainder were civilians.[43]

2014

On 3 March 2014 an airstrike, believed to have been carried out by an American drone, killed three people suspected of being members of AQAP. Mujahid Gaber Saleh al Shabwani, who is one of Yemen's 25 most wanted AQAP operatives, is thought to have been killed in the strike.[44]

On 20 and 21 April 2014, three drone strikes by the US government killed at least two dozen suspected AQAP members and destroyed one of the group's training camps in southern Yemen, according to a statement released by the Yemeni Interior Ministry. In a statement, the group admitted that five civilians had been wounded and three killed during the attack.[45]

On 13 June 2014 a suspected US drone strike targeted a car in the Mafraq al-Saeed area of the Shabwah province, killing five alleged AQAP operatives on board.[46]

Thus far, it is estimated that a total of 127 US drone attacks have been conducted in Yemen since 2002; 1 in 2002, 1 in 2010, 9 in 2011, 47 in 2012, 24 in 2013, 17 in 2014, 24 in 2015, and 4 in 2016. Additionally, 15 manned airstrikes have been conducted, though manned aircraft have only been used once since 2012.[47]

References

  1. ↑ New America Foundation, Drone Wars in Yemen. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  2. ↑ "The Bureau of Investigative Journalism", Yemen Fact Sheet. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ Long War Journal, Yemen. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  4. ↑ New America Foundation, Drone Wars in Yemen. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Bureau of Investigative Journalism", Yemen Fact Sheet. Retrieved February 4, 2016. 496-729 total killed, including 65-100 civilians (8-9 children).
  6. ↑ Long War Journal, Yemen. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  7. ↑ Al Qaeda Arrests Worldwide FOX News
  8. ↑ "Drones spur Yemenis' distrust of government and U.S.". Reuters. October 27, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Suspected U.S. drone missile strike leaves 2 militants dead in Yemen". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark, "Drone Strike In Yemen Was Aimed At Awlaki", New York Times, 7 May 2011, p. 11; Coker, Margaret, "Drone Targets Yemeni Cleric", Wall Street Journal, 7 May 2011, p. 1.
  12. ↑ Roggio, Bill, "AQAP confirms deaths of 2 commanders in US airstrike", Long War Journal, 21 July 2011.
  13. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark, "U.S. Is Intensifying A Secret Campaign Of Yemen Airstrikes", New York Times, 9 June 2011.
  14. ↑ Associated Press, "Secret CIA drone base being built to target Yemen militants", Japan Times, 16 June 2011, p. 1.
  15. ↑ DeYoung, Karen, "U.S. Air Attacks In Yemen Intensify", Washington Post, 17 September 2011, p. 1.
  16. ↑ Whitlock, Craig, and Greg Miller, "U.S. assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say", Washington Post, 21 September 2011.
  17. ↑ Barnes, Julian E., "U.S. Expands Drone Flights To Take Aim At East Africa", Wall Street Journal, 21 September 2011, p. 1.
  18. ↑ Arrabyee, Nasser, and Mark Mazzetti, "U.S. Strikes In Yemen Said To Kill 8 Militants", New York Times, 15 July 2011, p. 9.
  19. ↑ Roggio, Bill, "US airstrike kills 6 al Qaeda fighters in Yemen: report", Long War Journal, 14 July 2011.
  20. ↑
  21. ↑ Arrabyee, Nasser; Mazzetti, Mark (14 July 2011). "U.S. Strikes in Yemen Said to Kill 8 Militants". The New York Times.
  22. ↑ Whitlock, Craig, and Mohammed al-Qadhi, "Al-Qaeda Fugitive In Yemen Eludes Attack", Washington Post, 16 July 2011, p. 9.
  23. ↑ Al-Qadhi, Mohammed, "Airstrikes Kill Militants In S. Yemen", Washington Post, 2 August 2011, p. 9.
  24. ↑ Wan, William (2 August 2011). "Militants killed in air attacks in south Yemen". The Washington Post.
  25. ↑ http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3873&MainCat=3
  26. ↑ Al-Haj, Ahmed, Associated Press, "Yemen strikes kill 30 al-Qaida-linked fighters", Military Times, 24 August 2011.
  27. ↑ Roggio, Bill, "US airstrikes in southern Yemen kill 30 AQAP fighters: report", Long War Journal, 1 September 2011.
  28. ↑ Roggio, Bill, "US airstrikes kill AQAP fighters in southern Yemen", Long War Journal, 22 September 2011.
  29. ↑ Almasmari, Hakim, Margaret Coker, and Siobhan Gorman, "Drone Kills Top Al Qaeda Figure", Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2011, p. 1.
  30. ↑ New York Times, "Drone Strike In Yemen", 6 October 2011.
  31. ↑ Associated Press, "Yemen Says Local Al-Qaida Chief, 6 Others Killed", Arizona Daily Star, 15 October 2011.
  32. ↑ Reuters, "U.S. Drone Kills Yemen Al Qaeda Leader's Relative: Source", 23 December 2011.
  33. ↑ DeYoung, Karen, "U.S. Airstrike Targets Al-Qaeda In Yemen", Washington Post, 1 February 2012, p. 10; Roggio, Bill, "US drone strike kills 11 AQAP leaders, fighters: report", Long War Journal, 31 January 2012.
  34. ↑ Roggio, Bill, "US drone strike kills 3 AQAP fighters in Yemen", Long War Journal, 12 March 2012.
  35. ↑ Roggio, Bill, "US drone strike kills 4 AQAP fighters", Long War Journal, 15 March 2012.
  36. ↑ "U.S. drone kills 14 al-Qaida militants in Yemen's south". Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  37. ↑ Roggio, Bill, "AQAP confirms commander linked to Osama bin Laden killed in drone strike", Long War Journal, 30 April 2012.
  38. ↑ Al-Haj, Ahmed (Associated Press), "Airstrike kills senior al-Qaida leader in Yemen", Yahoo! News, 7 May 2012.
  39. ↑ "Yemen wedding convoy strike highlights civilian drone war toll". Yahoo News UK. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  40. ↑ "Drone strike in Yemen killed 17, mostly civilians". Your Middle East. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  41. ↑ "US drone strike kills civilians in central Yemen". Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  42. ↑ "Yemen says U.S. drone struck a wedding convoy, killing 14 - CNN.com". CNN. 13 December 2013.
  43. ↑ Ali, Zaid; King, Laura (13 December 2013). "U.S. drone strike on Yemen wedding party kills 17". Los Angeles Times.
  44. ↑ Bill Roggio: US kills 3 AQAP operatives in Yemen drone strike, March 3, 2014
  45. ↑ Schmitt, Eric (21 April 2014). "U.S. Drones and Yemeni Forces Kill Qaeda-Linked Fighters, Officials Say". The New York TImes. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  46. ↑ "Five killed in Yemen drone strike". Al Jazeera. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  47. ↑ New America Foundation, Drone Wars in Yemen. Retrieved February 4, 2016.

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