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The incident spins like a broken record: U.S. Navy SEALs raid a village in Yemen, call the operation a success and deny any civilian casualties.
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Later, it is revealed that civilians were, in fact, killed — in this case, 10, including one 15-year old child, as well as a 70-year old man.
The Intercept’s reporting found that during the United States’ May 23 raid in the province of Mareb, four homes were also destroyed in addition to the human death toll, despite the Pentagon declaring last week that there were "no credible indications of civilian casualties."
Through phone interviews with residents and activists in the village, The Intercept learned that the teen killed, Abdullah Saeed Salem al Adhal, was attempting to flee a barrage of firing from Apache helicopters.
"My little brother Abdullah ran for his life with the other women and children. They killed him as he was running," the boy’s 22-year old brother Murad al Adhal, who was also shot in the leg, told the outlet.
The 70-year old man, who was partially blind, was killed while attempting to greet the Navy SEALs after mistaking them for visitors, said London-based human rights group Reprieve.
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"President Trump must order an immediate investigation into what went wrong and halt all raids and drone strikes before more innocent Yeminis are killed," the group said, condemning the raid.
The raid is the second acknowledged by the U.S. military since President Donald Trump took office. The first occurred on Jan. 29 in al Ghayil and left 26 villagers dead, including 10 children. Trump had billed that operation as “highly successful.”
Yemen, facing aggression at the hands of both Saudi Arabia and the United States, is also facing a cholera epidemic, with the World Health Organization saying Monday that the death toll from the epidemic has already claimed 471 lives.
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