US Drone Strike Kills Three in Southeast Yemen

Slain Again Identified as 'al-Qaeda Suspects'

Fresh off of a weekend strike which killed four Yemeni, the US has launched yet another drone strike Monday in the Bayda Province, killing three people with a pair of missiles.

This makes three drone strikes in the past week, killing a total of 11 people. Only the Monday victims have been conclusively identified by locals, and included a 12-year-old student.

The victims in last Monday’s strike were initially all termed “al-Qaeda suspects,’ including the 12-year-old, and both of the following strikes also officials writing off the victims as “suspects” with no real evidence behind them.

The US is keen to show that its drone program is not being slowed down by the lack of a Yemeni president to give them permission. At the same time, their limited intelligence is only getting worse in the absence of an allied Yemeni government, and they risk a major backlash on the civilian death toll of the strikes, particularly with no Yemeni government to help them cover up the slayings.

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.