US Drone attack kills 9 in Yemen attack, Obama addresses drone program
Tthe U.S. officials are NOT denying the drone attack, drone activity or the targets.
From a CNN, three drone strikes in Yemen targeted “militants” with “suspected links to al Qaeda”
Three suspected drone strikes hit militant targets in southern Yemen on Monday night and Tuesday morning, killing at least nine people with suspected links to al Qaeda, Yemeni security officials said.
The militant group took over large parts of Abyan province in May after government forces evacuated a number of security posts and military bases. The group announced Abyan as an Islamic emirate and is calling for the implementation of Sharia law.
Hundreds of troops and militant fighters have been killed in the government’s efforts to clear the province from the hands of the militants, according to Yemen’s defense ministry.
Some residents in the area said they saw the aircraft in the attacks.
“The U.S. aircraft was flying in surprisingly low altitude Monday night. We were scared and expected a night of explosions and blood,” said Mousa Abdul Kadoos Abu Ali, a resident of Lowder distict, an area in the province.
Armed Predator drone firing Hellfire missile 2010 photo Brigadier Lance Mans, Deputy Director, NATO Special Operations Coordination Centre
Two security officials said the drone was from the United States.
U.S. officials rarely discuss the drone program, though privately they have said the covert strikes are legal and an effective tactic in the fight against extremists. But President Barack Obama did speak about the controversial use of drone attacks Monday.
“Our ability to respect the sovereignty of other countries and to limit our incursions into somebody else’s territory is enhanced by the fact that we are able to pinpoint-strike an al Qaeda operative in a place where the capacities of that military in that country may not be able to get them,” the president said during a Google+ video chat room interview Monday.
He added that “drones have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.” He gave no indication that the U.S. policy of ordering drone strikes would change, at least as long as a terrorist threat remains.
Public domain photo/US Air Force
