CIA Agent, Commando ‘Getting a Haircut’ Before Yemen Killings

Officials Say Slain Yemenis Were Likely al-Qaeda

The CIA agent and US Special Forces commando involved in a recent shooting of a pair of Yemenis in the capital city of Sanaa were “getting a haircut,” according to Yemeni security officials.

What happened next is still not entirely clear, but a pair of Yemenis stormed into the barbershop, identifying themselves as police, and were immediately killed by the Americans.

Yemeni officials say that the two were likely members of an “al-Qaeda cell,” and the shooters, who were initially identified only as “US embassy officials,” quickly left the country.

Locals say that police later arrived and captured the barbershop owner, holding him for some time before finally releasing him uncharged. The relatives of the slain denied al-Qaeda involvement, and were likewise arrested in what officials are saying was an “attempted kidnapping.”

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.