At least 57 people, including 41 suspected militants and 16 civilians, died in a US raid on al-Qaeda in Yemen on Sunday, officials said. A senior leader in Yemen's al-Qaeda branch, Abdulraoof al-Dhahab, was killed in the attack.
Eight women and eight children were among the deceased in the central province of Bayda, the official said.
This is the first US raid on jihadists in Yemen since Donald Trump became the president on January 20. The raid was launched by helicopter-borne commandoes in rural Yakla district of al-Bayda province.
Residents, officials and al-Qaeda said the attack was carried out by the US.
This would be the first raid by US military in Yemen in almost two years of its civil war. Yemen was one of the seven countries named in Trump's Muslim ban.
Al-Qaeda mourned al-Dhahab as a "holy warrior" and other militants who were killed in its official Telegram account. However, they did not specify how many militants were killed.
"The operation began at dawn when a drone bombed the home of Abdulraoof al-Dhahab and then helicopters flew up and unloaded paratroopers at his house and killed everyone inside," one resident told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "Next, the gunmen opened fire at the U.S. soldiers who left the area, and the helicopters bombed the gunmen and a number of homes and led to a large number of casualties."
