Nine Yemenis Killed In US Airstrikes
KABUL: (Middle East Press) Two separate US drone strikes in Yemen’s southwestern and Northern provinces of Hadhramaut and Jawf have killed at least nine people.
In one of the strikes, the drone fired three missiles at a gathering of suspected al-Qaeda militants in Riyan Airport of Hadhramaut’s provincial capital city of al-Mukalla, located about 800 kilometers (497 miles) southeast of the capital, Sana’a, on Saturday, leaving five people dead, Arabic-language al-Bawaba news website reported.
Reports say militants have reportedly been holed up in the airport for months.
The development came hours after another remote-controlled US aircraft targeted four suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants as they were travelling in a car in the province of Jawf, killing all of them.
Washington has been conducting targeted killings through the remotely-controlled armed drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
The US says the airstrikes target members of al-Qaeda and other militants, but according to local officials and witnesses, civilians have in most cases been the victims of the attacks.