Yemen to Pay Families of Civilians Killed in US Drone Strikes

Three 'Confirmed' Civilians Slain on Saturday

Days of US drone strikes killed scores of people across Yemen, and while none of the “suspects” have been conclusively identified, Yemen’s government has so far confirmed three innocent civilians among the slain.

Finding that out is expensive, as the Yemeni government has confirmed paying compensatory “blood money” to the families of the three civilians, with some reporting $55,000 in cash and firearms given to the families.

The US refuses to confirm or deny its involvement in any of the attacks, except on those rare occasions when they kill someone they can conclusively identify. This likely means the US won’t be the ones ponying up the blood money.

Yemen said the three killed civilians were in a pickup truck that just happened to be near one of the vehicles attacked. There is no indication how many others might be civilians, but with 68 killed it is likely to be much more than just three.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.