SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The Latest on a U.S. raid targeting al-Qaida militants in Yemen (all times local):

President Donald Trump says Americans are saddened by the news that a U.S. service member was killed and three others were wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting an al-Qaida affiliate.

Trump says in a statement that “brave U.S. forces were instrumental in killing” an estimated 14 militants and capturing “important intelligence that will assist the U.S. in preventing terrorism against its citizens and people around the world.

The U.S. military says a service member has been killed and three others wounded in raid in Yemen targeting a local al-Qaida affiliate.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Sunday that another service member was injured in a “hard landing” in a nearby location.

It says the aircraft was unable to fly afterward and “was then intentionally destroyed in place.”

It says 14 fighters from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the assault in central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders.

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the U.S. has launched a raid in central Yemen, landing troops off of aircraft and killing three alleged senior al-Qaida leaders in a battle on the ground.

They say the Sunday attack at dawn in Bayda province killed Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims. The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which security forces say is concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a previous U.S. drone strike years ago.

They say the fighting lasted around 45 minutes and that the U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

Comments

 WTOP is now using Facebook as our comment platform. Need help? Email us</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone strike killed two men believed to be al Qaeda militants in central Yemen, local officials said early on Monday, hours after American commandos carried out the first military operation authorized by President Donald Trump.

The officials said the pilotless plane targeted a vehicle traveling in Baihan in the province of Shabwa, in which two suspected al Qaeda members were traveling. Both men were killed, they said.

Al Qaeda has exploited a civil war in Yemen pitting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement against the Saudi-backed government of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to recruit more followers and enhance its influence in the impoverished country.

The United States, which sees the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda as a major threat to its regional interests, conducted dozens of drone strikes in Yemen throughout Barack Obama's presidency.

It has acknowledged drone strikes to target militants, but declines to comment on specific attacks.

A U.S. commando died and three were wounded during a dawn raid on Sunday in the rural Yakla district of central Yemen's al-Bayda province. The U.S. military also said that at least 14 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed.</s>A US raid in Yemen killed 41 suspected Al-Qaeda militants and 16 civilians on Sunday, an official said, in what would be America’s first military action in the country under President Donald Trump.

Eight women and eight children were among those killed in the dawn raid in Yakla district, in the central province of Baida, said the provincial official, who did not want to be named, and tribal sources.

 Sources in the region said the raid targeted the houses of three tribal chiefs linked to Al-Qaeda.

 The provincial official said Apache helicopters also struck a school, a mosque and a medical facility which were all used by Al-Qaeda militants.

 Other sources spoke of US commandos taking part in the operation, but it was not possible to verify the information.

 The three prominent tribal figures killed in the attack were identified as brothers Abdulraouf and Sultan al-Zahab and Saif Alawai al-Jawfi, the official and other sources said.

 They were known for their strong links to Al-Qaeda, the sources said.

 The Zahab brothers have two other Al-Qaeda brothers who were also killed in the past by drone strikes.

 An Al-Qaeda chief in the region, who was identified as foreigner Abu Barazan, was also killed in the attack, the official said.

 The military operation is the first to be attributed to the United States against jihadists in Yemen since Trump took office on January 20.

Under Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, the United States stepped up its use of drone strikes against suspected jihadists in Yemen, as well as other countries including Afghanistan.

 The United States considers the extremist group’s Yemen-based franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to be its most dangerous.

 Although it only sporadically reports on a long-running bombing campaign against AQAP, it is the only force known to be operating drones over Yemen.

 On January 14, the Pentagon announced the killing of a senior Al-Qaeda operative in Baida the week before in an air strike.

 Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadist group have exploited a power vacuum created by the two-year-old conflict in Yemen between the government and Shia Huthi rebels, especially in the country’s south and southeast.

 Baida province is mostly controlled by the Huthis, but Yakla is ruled by the tribes, and has at least two training bases for Al-Qaeda, local sources said.

 Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have mounted offensives against jihadists in the south, but the militants remain active in several areas.

 The conflict in Yemen has killed more than 7,400 people since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened to support Hadi in March 2015, according to the World Health Organization.

 But UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said last week that as many as 10,000 civilians may have died.Last updated: Original Article</s>(SANAA, Yemen) — The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaeda branch, marking the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump.

The raid left about 30 people dead, including women and children, according to an al-Qaeda official and a news service linked to the terror group. One of the children killed was Nora, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011, according to the girl's grandfather.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that Nora was visiting her mother when the surprise pre-dawn raid took place on Sunday.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."

It said militants from al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

A U.S. defense official said the raid was approved by Trump. President Barack Obama had been briefed on it before he left office on Jan. 20, but for operational reasons it was not ready to be executed before he departed, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss details beyond those announced by the Pentagon and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the raid in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaeda leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki's in-laws, is considered an ally of al-Qaeda, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaeda.

An online news serviced linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen likened the raid to a "massacre against Muslims" and said U.S. warplanes were first seen in the sky above the area at 9 p.m. Saturday and that the raid began at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with 16 missiles hitting three houses near Yakla village in Radaa district.

A two-hour gunbattle ensued after American service members landed on the ground, it said. About 30 men, women and children were killed in the raid, it added.

The killed and wounded included some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An al-Qaeda official sent to the AP Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid along with houses showing bullet holes. The official requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaeda operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals on Sunday, but the U.S. official in Washington said no detainees were taken in the raid,

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country's southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control.

Michael reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and AP National Security Writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.</s>A suspected U.S. drone strike killed two men believed to be al Qaeda militants in central Yemen, local officials said early on Monday, hours after American commandos carried out the first military operation authorized by President Donald Trump.The officials said the pilot-less plane targeted a vehicle traveling in Baihan in the province of Shabwa, in which two suspected al Qaeda members were traveling. Both men were killed, they said.Al Qaeda has exploited a civil war in Yemen pitting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement against the Saudi-backed government of president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to recruit more followers and enhance its influence in the impoverished country.The United States, which sees the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda as a major threat to its regional interests, conducted dozens of drone strikes in Yemen throughout Barack Obama's presidency.It has acknowledged drone strikes to target militants, but declines to comment on specific attacks.A U.S. commando died and three were wounded during a dawn raid on Sunday in the rural Yakla district of central Yemen's al-Bayda province. The U.S. military also said that at least 14 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed.</s>SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch, marking the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump.

The raid left about 30 people dead, including women and children, according to an al-Qaida official and a news service linked to the terror group. One of the children killed was Nora, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011, according to the girl’s grandfather.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that Nora was visiting her mother when the surprise pre-dawn raid took place on Sunday.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a “hard landing” in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was “intentionally destroyed.”

It said militants from al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen, formally known as “al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula,” were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

A U.S. defense official said the raid was approved by Trump. President Barack Obama had been briefed on it before he left office on Jan. 20, but for operational reasons it was not ready to be executed before he departed, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss details beyond those announced by the Pentagon and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the raid in Yemen’s central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki’s in-laws, is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

An online news serviced linked to al-Qaida in Yemen likened the raid to a “massacre against Muslims” and said U.S. warplanes were first seen in the sky above the area at 9 p.m. Saturday and that the raid began at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with 16 missiles hitting three houses near Yakla village in Radaa district.

A two-hour gunbattle ensued after American service members landed on the ground, it said. About 30 men, women and children were killed in the raid, it added.

The killed and wounded included some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An al-Qaida official sent to the AP Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid along with houses showing bullet holes. The official requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals on Sunday, but the U.S. official in Washington said no detainees were taken in the raid,

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen’s civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen’s president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country’s southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control.</s>An unmanned drone targeted a vehicle travelling in Baihan in the Shabwa province of Yemen, in which two suspected member of al Qaeda were travelling, according to local officials. A civil war in the Middle Eastern country has been ongoing between the Houthi forces and the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with al Qaeda and Islamic State also involved in the fighting. Between March 2015 and January 2017 16,200 people, including 10,000 civilians have been killed, according to United Nations estimates.

The US views al Qaeda in the Yemen as a significant threat to its interests in the Middle East and has conducted dozens of drone strikes in the area under the former President Barack Obama. American defence officials have acknowledged drone strikes but have declined to comment on particular incidents. A US commando died and three were wounded during a dawn raid on Sunday in the rural Yakla district of central Yemen's al-Bayda province.

The US military also said that at least 14 suspected al Qaeda militants were killed. At least 10 Yemeni women and children are also believed to have been killed during the dawn raid on Sunday which involved missiles and helicopter machine guns. A US military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that civilian deaths could not be ruled out and that one US commando had been killed and three others wounded.

Al-Qaeda said Abdulraouf al-Zahab, a senior leader of the group, was killed along with several other fighters in the raid on the area that has been a frequent target of US drone strikes. Mr Trump called the operation a success and said intelligence gathered during the operation would help the United States fight "terrorism". He said in a statement: ”Americans are saddened this morning with news that a life of a heroic service member has been taken in our fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism.”

The US President spoke with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday in an hour-long telephone conversation and agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, according to a White House statement. The pair also agreed to step up counter-terrorism and military co-operation as well as enhance economic ties. The White House statement said the two also discussed what it called an invitation from the king for Trump "to lead a Middle East effort to defeat terrorism and to help build a new future, economically and socially," for Saudi Arabia and the region.</s>SANAA — Helicopter-borne commandos launched a raid in southern Yemen at dawn on Sunday that killed around 30 people, including al-Qaida suspects and civilians, residents and local officials told Reuters.

Residents and officials as well as al-Qaida itself said the attack was carried out by the United States, which did not immediately acknowledge the operation.

The gunbattle in the rural Yakla district of al-Bayda province killed a senior leader in Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, Abdulraoof al-Dhahab, along with other militants, the local witnesses said.

Medics at the scene said 30 people were killed, including 10 women and three children.

If confirmed, the raid would be the first in the country by the American military since Yemen descended into civil war nearly two years ago. It also would be the first such operation during Donald Trump’s presidency.

In a message on its official Telegram account, al-Qaida mourned al-Dhahab as a “holy warrior” and other slain militants, without specifying how many of its fighters 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,” said one resident, who spoke 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.”

A Yemeni security officer and a local official corroborated that account. Fahd, a local resident who asked that only his first name be used, said several bodies remained under debris and that houses and the local mosque were damaged in the attack.

U.S. special forces attempted to rescue an American and a South African hostage held by al-Qaida in another part of the country in December 2014. The captives were killed in the subsequent firefight.

The U.S. conducted dozens of drone strikes in Yemen throughout Barack Obama’s presidency to combat al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, regarded as one of the global militant group’s most dangerous branches.

The local al-Qaida unit organized the Charlie Hebdo magazine attack in Paris in 2015 and has repeatedly tried to down U.S. airliners.</s>The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch, marking the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump.

The raid left about 30 people dead, including women and children, according to an al-Qaida official and a news service linked to the terror group. One of the children killed was Nora, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011, according to the girl's grandfather.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that Nora was visiting her mother when the surprise pre-dawn raid took place Sunday.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."

It said militants from al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

A U.S. defense official said the raid was approved by Trump. President Barack Obama had been briefed on it before he left office on Jan. 20, but for operational reasons it was not ready to be executed before he departed, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss details beyond those announced by the Pentagon and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the raid in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki's in-laws, is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

An online news serviced linked to al-Qaida in Yemen likened the raid to a "massacre against Muslims" and said U.S. warplanes were first seen in the sky above the area at 9 p.m. Saturday and that the raid began at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with 16 missiles hitting three houses near Yakla village in Radaa district.

A two-hour gunbattle ensued after American service members landed on the ground, it said. About 30 men, women and children were killed in the raid, it added.

The killed and wounded included some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An al-Qaida official sent to the AP Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid along with houses showing bullet holes. The official requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals Sunday, but the U.S. official in Washington said no detainees were taken in the raid,

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country's southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control.</s>The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch.

It is the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump's new administration.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."

The Central Command statement said 14 militants from al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the surprise dawn assault in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

The U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An official with al-Qaida confirmed the killings, describing the attack as a "massacre" and saying that women and children had been killed as well. The official sent to The Associated Press in Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid.

The official said the Apache attack helicopters struck the area from the air before dropping commandos in for the raid, which took place near Yakla village in Radaa district. He too spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans were looking for al-Qaida leader Qassim al-Rimi, adding that they captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country's southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control.
A U.S. military raid takes place in Yemen's southern Al Bayda Governorate. According to medics on the scene as reported by Reuters, "around 30" were killed, among which were at least three senior Al-Qaeda members, at least one U.S. service member, and 10 women and children.