Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, denied reports that the purpose of the attack was to capture or kill any specific Qaeda leader. “The raid that was conducted in Yemen was an intelligence-gathering raid,” he said. “That’s what it was. It was highly successful. It achieved the purpose it was going to get, save the loss of life that we suffered and the injuries that occurred.”

Neither the White House nor the Yemenis have publicly announced the suspension. Pentagon spokesmen declined to comment, but other military and civilian officials confirmed that Yemen’s reaction had been strong.

It was unclear if Yemen’s decision to halt the ground attacks was also influenced by Mr. Trump’s inclusion of the country on his list of nations from which he wants to temporarily suspend all immigration, an executive order that is now being challenged in the federal courts.

According to American civilian and military officials, the Yemeni ban on operations does not extend to military drone attacks, and does not affect the handful of American military advisers who are providing intelligence support to the Yemenis and forces from the United Arab Emirates.

In 2014, Yemen’s government temporarily halted those drones from flying because of botched operations that also killed civilians. But later they quietly resumed, and in recent years they have been increasing in frequency, a sign of the fact that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, is considered one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist groups.

The raid stirred immediate outrage among Yemeni government officials, some of whom accused the Trump administration of not fully consulting with them before the mission. Within 24 hours of the assault on a cluster of houses in a tiny village in mountainous central Yemen, the country’s foreign minister, Abdul Malik Al Mekhlafi, condemned the raid in a post on his official Twitter account as “extrajudicial killings.”</s>In Cairo, however, Yemen’s foreign minister, Abdul Malik al-Mekhlafi, called for the review of the operation, in which one American commando and some 14 fighters of Al Qaeda died, adding that “Yemen continues to cooperate with the United States and continues to abide by all the agreements.”

Yemen’s embassy in Washington said in a statement that it had not suspended any counterterrorism programs with the United States. But hinting that Yemeni leaders were not fully informed in advance about the mission, the embassy also said that “any counterterrorism operations carried out in Yemen should continue to be in consultation with Yemeni authorities and have precautionary measures to prevent civilian casualties.”

The raid, which suffered a number of failings and faced unexpected resistance, was an early test of Mr. Trump’s national security decision-making — and his willingness to rely on the assurances of his military advisers. His aides say that even though the decision was made over a dinner, it had been fully vetted and had the required legal approvals.</s>“Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the first commando raid authorized by President Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country,” the New York Times reports.

“While the White House continues to insist that the attack was a ‘success’ — a characterization it repeated on Tuesday — the suspension of commando operations is a setback for Mr. Trump, who has made it clear he plans to take a far more aggressive approach against Islamic militants.”</s>Yemen has withdrawn permission for U.S. forces to conduct anti-terror ground missions in the country after a deadly commando raid last month that reportedly resulted in civilian casualties.</s>Yesterday evening, The New York Times reported that:

Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the first commando raid authorized by President Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country, according to American officials. Grisly photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire of a 50-minute firefight during the raid caused outrage in Yemen. While the White House continues to insist that the attack was a “success” — a characterization it repeated on Tuesday — the suspension of commando operations is a setback for Mr. Trump, who has made it clear he plans to take a far more aggressive approach against Islamic militants.

Mr. Obama deferred the decision to Mr. Trump, who appeared inclined to grant it: His approval of the Jan. 29 raid came over a dinner four nights earlier with his top national security aides, rather than in the kind of rigorous review in the Situation Room that became fairly routine under President George W. Bush and Mr. Obama.

And the New York Times concluded with almost gleeful abandon that specialists in Yemeni culture and politics have cautioned that Al Qaeda would seize on the raid to whip up anti-American feelings and attract more followers (seemingly forgetful of the 100s killed by Obama’s drone program).

HOWEVER… As The Washington Post reports today, The New York Times story is incorrect… Yemen’s top diplomat said the country has called for a “reassessment” of a Jan. 28 raid that left multiple civilians and a U.S. service member dead, but Yemen did not issue an outright ban on future American-led missions, a report said Wednesday.

The statement by Yemen’s foreign minister, Abdul-Malik al-Mekhlafi, according to the Associated Press, followed a report in the New York Times that Yemen had revoked permissions for the United States to continue ground counterterrorism operations in the country, a base for one of al-Qaeda’s most dangerous affiliates. Mekhlafi told the AP that “Yemen continues to cooperate with the United States and continues to abide by all the agreements.” He added, however, that the Yemeni government “is involved in talks with the U.S. administration on the latest raid.” “It’s not true what’s being said,” said a senior Yemeni official in Aden, referring to the reports of a Yemeni ban on U.S. commando operations. The official spoke by phone from Aden where the internationally recognized government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is based. “We and the international community are working side-by-side to fight terrorism,” he said

Furthermore, US CENTCOM has not stopped its operations…

“We are aware of reports indicating the Yemeni government requested a suspension of U.S. ground operations,” said acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner in a statement. “We note that the Yemeni foreign minister has denied these reports.”

US Forces Not Ordered to Cease Operations in Yemen – CENTCOM

US forces have not been ordered to cease operations or planning in Yemen and will continue to conduct operations against al-Qaeda, Central Command spokesman Maj. Josh Jacques told Sputnik on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Yemen had withdrawn permission for US forces to conduct special operations inside the country following January 29 operation that resulted in the deaths of civilians and a US Navy SEAL. “Currently, we have not been ordered to stop conducting any operations nor have been directed to halt any operational planning,” Jacques stated. On January 29, the US Special Forces launched a raid in Yemen, killing 14 al-Qaeda militants as well as civilians, including the eight-year-old daughter of previously assassinated al-Qaeda leader Anwar Awlaki. Jacques told Sputnik CENTCOM would continue to conduct operations in coordination with the government of Yemen to degrade, disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda. The US Defense Department said the raid in the southern al-Bayda province killed 14 al-Qaeda members, and the White House said commandos had successfully captured intelligence. (Source) US to Continue Working With Yemen Against Al-Qaeda, Daesh – State Department The United States will continue to work with Yemen’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in the fight against al-Qaeda and Daesh, US Department of State spokesman Mark Toner told Sputnik on Wednesday. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Toner said Hadi had been a stalwart partner in the fight against Daesh and Yemen’s al-Qaeda branch, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). “We will continue to work with him and his representatives to ensure that this important partnership remains solid in order to ultimately eradicate AQAP/ISIS [Daesh] from Yemen,” Toner stated. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Yemen had withdrawn permission for US forces to conduct special operations inside the country following January 29 operation that resulted in the deaths of civilians and a US Navy service member. Toner noted the Yemeni foreign minister had denied the reports. Earlier on Wednesday, Central Command spokesman Maj. Josh Jacques told Sputnik that US forces had not been ordered to cease operations or directed to halt operational planning.</s>Angry at civilian casualties incurred recently in the first commando raid authorised by President Donald Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission to the US to run ground operations on its soil, a media report said on Wednesday.

Grisly photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire of a 50-minute firefight during the raid caused outrage in Yemen, New York Times quoted US officials in its report.

A member of the Navy's SEAL Team 6, Chief Petty Officer William Owens, was also killed in the operation.

While the White House continues to insist that the attack was a "success", the suspension of commando operations is a setback for Trump, who has made it clear he plans to take a far more aggressive approach against Islamic militants.

It was unclear if Yemen's decision to halt the ground attacks was also influenced by Trump's inclusion of the country on his list of nations from which he wants to temporarily suspend all immigration, an executive order that is now being challenged in the federal courts.

It also calls into question whether the Pentagon would receive permission from the President for far more autonomy in selecting and executing its counterterrorism missions in Yemen.

The White House continued its defence of the raid on Tuesday, making no reference to the Yemeni reaction.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, denied reports that the purpose of the attack was to capture or kill any specific Al Qaeda leader.

"The raid that was conducted in Yemen was an intelligence-gathering raid," he said. "That's what it was. It was highly successful. It achieved the purpose it was going to get, save the loss of life that we suffered and the injuries that occurred."

Neither the White House nor the Yemenis have publicly announced the suspension. Pentagon spokesmen declined to comment, but other military and civilian officials confirmed that Yemen's reaction had been strong.</s>Yemen on Wednesday withdrew permission for the United States to conduct anti-terrorism operations on its soil after President Donald Trump authorised a raid that killed 14 al Qaeda militants, one United States commando and several civilians, The New York Times reported. While the publication cited unidentified sources, but neither government has confirmed the development yet.

Public anger over 30 alleged civilian deaths during the the January 29 operation and the inclusion of Yemen in the US immigration ban list has reportedly triggered this decision. The Pentagon has acknowledged that several civilians died during the exchange of fire and said that an investigation to verify the reports were underway.

Describing the raid as “extrajudicial killings” on Twitter, Yemen’s foreign minister Abdul Malik Al Mekhlafi had condemned the operation. Several Yemeni government officials said the Arab country had not been appropriately consulted and briefed about the mission, the English daily reported.

In a statement in January, Trump had hailed the operation as a success and said the intelligence gathered during the operation would help the country fight terrorism. He had said that Americans were “saddened” by the death of a service member who was fighting against “the evil radical Islamic terrorism”.

In 2014, Yemen had suspended US drone operations temporarily as failed operations had led to the deaths of many civilians. The missions resumed a short while after.</s>Yemen has withdrawn permission for U.S. forces to conduct antiterror ground missions in the country after a deadly commando raid last month that reportedly resulted in civilian casualties.

The New York Times, citing unnamed American officials, reported Tuesday that neither the White House nor the Yemenis have publically announced the suspension. The report said it is unclear if the Yemenis were influenced at all by President Trump’s travel ban order that included Yemen on the list of banned countries.

U.S. Central Command said earlier this month that civilians may have been hit by gunfire from aircraft called in to assist U.S. troops, who were engaged in a ferocious firefight on Jan. 29 with militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The military said the civilians may not have been visible to the U.S. forces because they were mixed in with combatants in the compound who were firing at U.S. troops "from all sides to include houses and other buildings."

The Times reported that photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire caused outrage in Yemen.

The Pentagon disputed published reports that the operation was compromised and that U.S. troops lost the element of surprise in the assault on the compound.

"We have no information to suggest that this was compromised," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, saying the accounts do not "match with reality."

He said the U.S. special operations forces conducted the raid to get valuable information and intelligence, including about potential operations by Al Qaeda against the United States and the West.

The plan, he said, was to "go in, conduct a raid, grab things and go." When the firefight broke out, he said the team "needed to call in this support in order to ensure that they could get out and not lose their lives." Fighter aircraft and helicopters responded to provide cover from the air for the forces, which included a Navy SEAL team.

Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens was killed in the assault, and three other U.S. service members were wounded. Another three U.S. forces were wounded in the "hard landing" of an MV-22 Osprey aircraft at a staging area for the mission.

According to Central Command, the firefight included small arms fire, hand grenades and close air support fire.

Davis said earlier this week that an unspecified number of women were part of the group of combatants battling the U.S. forces, and some were among the 14 killed in the firefight.

Planning for the clandestine counterterrorism raid began before President Obama left office on Jan. 20, but Trump authorized the raid.

He said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis supported the raid, and Trump approved it on Jan. 26.

The U.S. has been striking the militant group from the air for more than 15 years, mostly using drones. Sunday's surprise pre-dawn raid could signal a new escalation against extremist groups in the Arab world's poorest but strategically located country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report</s>Yemen has reportedly asked the United States not to carry out ground raids there without the full permission of its government after a raid by U.S. troops on an Al-Qaeda base killed up to 30 civilians.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that American officials said Yemen, angered by the civilian deaths in the Jan. 29 operation, has withdrawn permission for U.S. special operations ground missions against suspected terrorists there.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Yemen's government has not withdrawn permission, but had made its reservations about the last raid clear.

It said that there needs to be more coordination with Yemeni authorities in advance of any future operations.

CNN reported Wednesday that Yemen's government had requested that the U.S. stop such operations unless they have the Yemeni government's full approval, in a strong message condemning the raid.

The incident, in the al-Bayda area in central Yemen, was the first such counter-terror raid authorized by President Trump. Fourteen al-Qaeda fighters and William "Ryan" Owens, a U.S. Navy SEAL were also killed.

The U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said the raid led to the capture of critical intelligence.

Yemen is in the midst of a civil war with Iran-backed Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who control much of the country, in conflict with the internationally-recognized Saudi-backed government.</s>Yemen ‘Continues to Cooperate’ With U.S. In Anti-Terror Fight

Yemen’s foreign minister on Wednesday denied reports that the country suspended United States ground operations following a deadly January commando raid that killed several civilians.

“Yemen continues to cooperate with the United States and continues to abide by all the agreements,” Abdul-Malik al-Mekhlafi, Yemen’s top diplomat, told the Associated Press on Wednesday. He said that Yemen has asked for a “reassessment” of the operation.

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, The New York Times first reported on Tuesday that the Yemeni government, in response to the January 28 raid “in which just about everything went wrong,” had rescinded permission for U.S. ground operations. This depiction broke sharply from that of the White House, which said that the raid was “highly successful.”

Yemeni officials, however, said the raid killed 15 women and children, including at least one American — 8-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki, also known as Nora, the daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric connected to al Qaeda who was killed in a 2011 U.S. drone strike. Al-awaki’s 16-year-old son was killed in a separate raid in 2011.

In a statement on the matter, the Pentagon confirmed that civilians were likely killed in the “complex situation,” but that it yielded “valuable intelligence.”

Some Yemeni leaders have publicly criticized the raid, saying that civilian deaths undermine cooperation between the two nations in their fight against al Qaeda’s insurgency in the Arabian peninsula.

“Yemen’s government is a key partner in the war against terrorism,” said Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemeni ambassador to the U.S., in an interview with Al Jazeera. That partnership, he said, shouldn’t come “at the expense of the Yemeni citizens and the country’s sovereignty.”

A U.S. Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens, was also killed in the raid.

Though Yemen may not be suspending U.S. ground operations, it has tried to limit American military operations before. After a 2014 drone strike killed about a dozen civilians at a wedding celebration in central Yemen, the government voted to temporarily ban drone operations. They soon allowed them to resume, however, after an uptick in violence in the region.

Many have raised concerns about the risk to Yemeni civilians in the ongoing conflict, including the United Nations (U.N.). A 2015 U.N. report said that U.S. drone strikes in Yemen killed more civilians than al Qaeda.

The exact number of civilians killed by drone strikes during the ongoing war on terror is not widely known. That information is closely guarded by the Pentagon and White House, which claims that between 64 and 116 people were killed by strikes between 2009 and the end of 2015. But observers monitoring the conflict estimate that between 380 and 801 civilians were killed by drone strikes in that period.

The U.S. had previously claimed that drone strikes were “exceptionally surgical and precise” and “do not put… innocent men, women and children in danger.”

The Drones of The Future Will Be Deadlier

No one knows how persistent this kind of operation could be under President Trump, but he has repeatedly claimed that he is open to “taking out” the families of terrorists as a means of defeating insurgent groups like ISIS — a shift from the “very politically correct war” he says was fought under Obama.

The Trump Administration’s war against ISIS is likely to involve increased use of drone technology, which was being planned by the Pentagon under Obama. The drones of the future, the Department of Defense has said, will have machine-learning capabilities, enabling them to “integrate sensing, perceiving, analyzing, communicating, planning, decision making, and executing to achieve mission goals versus system functions.”

Obama relied heavily on drone strikes in many of the Middle Eastern conflicts in which the U.S. became embroiled. He is said to have authorized more drone strikes by the end of his first year as president than George W. Bush had during his entire presidency — although part of that is due to technological innovation over the course of the last 15 years.

Given the threat that these drone strikes already pose to civilians (including to American citizens), the lack of real transparency around drone operations, and Trump’s cavalier attitude toward killing the families of insurgents, the prospect of future drone use in the Middle East worries human rights groups. They say that civilians deaths are a danger to America too.

 

 “Make no mistake: secret raids that kill small children will do nothing to make Americans safer,” Jennifer Gibson of Reprieve, an international human rights group, said in a statement. “Trump’s allies — both in the U.S., and in countries like the U.K. — must urgently persuade him to scale back on this disastrous use of his executive powers.”
Yemen reassesses its permission to the United States to run special operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups because of the civilian deaths in the January 29 raid. Earlier reports indicated permission had been suspended.