U.S. Attempted A Second Yemen Raid Against Al Qaeda One Month After The Last One But Aborted It At The Last Minute

Special forces soldiers in the field (Shutterstock.com)

The Intercept: SEAL Team 6 Attempted a Second Yemen Raid One Month After Botched Operation

Navy SEALs attempted to conduct another raid inside Yemen earlier this month but aborted the mission at the last minute, according to a senior U.S. military official.

Members of SEAL Team 6 deployed to Yemen in early March for a ground assault targeting suspected members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group U.S. officials view as the most dangerous branch of the terrorist organization. The aborted mission followed a botched January 29 raid in the village of al Ghayil, in al Bayda province. That raid left a Navy SEAL dead and two others seriously injured, and killed more than two dozen Yemeni civilians, including at least 16 women and children. The leader of AQAP, Qassim al Rimi, released a statement mocking Donald Trump and stating that 14 men died in the assault.

General Joseph Votel, who leads U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services committee last week, “We lost a lot in this operation. We lost a valued operator, we had people wounded, we caused civilian casualties, lost an expensive aircraft.”

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Update #1: US Navy Seal Team 6 Enigmatically Abandoned Second Raid on Al Qaeda in Yemen (Sputnik)
Update #2: SEAL Team 6 tried second Yemen raid Mar. 2 — but mysteriously aborted mission at the last minute (RAW Story)

WNU Editor: The raid may have been aborted in favor of drone strikes because of this .... Navy SEALs startled by terrorists’ combat readiness in Yemen mission (Washington Times). More here on the report of the botched January SEAL raid in Yemen .... US officials insist Navy SEAL raid in Yemen was not leaked in advance though they admit the terrorists were shockingly combat ready (Daily Mail)