Al-Majalah camp attack
| AL-Majalah missile strikes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen | |||||||
| |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 24-50 killed, including 14 women and 21 children | |||||||
The al-Majalah camp attack 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,[1][2][3][4][5] including 14 women and 21 children.
The attack
The al-Majalah camp attack took place on December 17, 2009, when United States launched cruise missiles at the site.[6][7] Initially, both the U.S. and Yemeni governments denied U.S. involvement in the strikes, despite accusations from Amnesty International.[8][9] 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.[1]
A primary target in the attacks — Qasim al-Raymi, 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.[10]
In media
- Dirty Wars, a 2013 American documentary directed by Richard Rowley, and written by Jeremy Scahill and David Riker.
See also
- Abdulelah Haider Shaye, a prominent Yemeni journalist who was jailed after reporting US involvement in the attack.
References
- ^ a b Filkins, Dexter (6 February 2013). "What We Don't Know About Drones". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "US: Reassess Targeted Killings in Yemen". Human Rights Watch. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "Yemen drones strikes cause civilians to 'fear the US as much as al-Qaeda'". The Daily Telegraph. London. October 22, 2013.
- ^ Hugh MacLeod and Nasser Arrabyee (January 3, 2010). "Yemeni air attacks on al-Qaida fighters risk mobilising hostile tribes". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Raghavan, Sudarsan (2009-12-18). "Yemen asserts 34 rebels killed in raid on Qaeda". The Washington Post. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
- ^ "Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists". Abcnews.go.com. December 18, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Spencer, Richard (7 June 2010). "US cluster bombs 'killed 35 women and children'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "Images of missile and cluster munitions point to US role in fatal attack in Yemen".
- ^ Hauslohner, Abigail (December 22, 2009). "Despite U.S. Aid, Yemen Faces Growing al-Qaeda Threat". Time.