The remnants of a US GBU-39 bomb were found at the location of a US airstrike on a migrant facility in Saada in northwestern Yemen, Drop Site News reported on Thursday.
According to Yemeni media, the US strikes on the facility killed 68 people, and all the casualties appear to have been African migrants who were detainees at the facility.
In response to the reports of major civilian casualties in the strikes, a Pentagon official said Monday that the US was “currently conducting our battle-damage assessment and inquiry into those claims,” but so far, there have been no further comments from the US military.
A Yemen-based Ethiopian activist who spoke with survivors of the attack told Drop Site that the detention center was hit by three separate strikes in slow succession. Trevor Ball, a munitions expert and former US Army ordnance specialist, said the facility was likely targeted intentionally since GBU-39 bombs are precise weapons, and it was struck multiple times.
US-made GBU-39 bombs have been used frequently by the Israeli military in attacks on Gaza, including in strikes on tents. Ball said the remnants of the GBU-39 at the migrant center appear to be the first evidence of the US using the bomb in Yemen.
The same migrant facility was targeted by Saudi Arabia in 2022 in a strike that killed 91 civilians, according to the Yemen Data Project, which means the US should have been aware that attacking the detention center would have caused significant civilian casualties.
Since the Trump administration launched its bombing campaign in Yemen on March 15, the US military has struck over 1,000 targets in the country. The Pentagon has shared virtually no details about the airstrikes, which have killed more than 200 civilians.
In response to the reports of major civilian casualties in the strikes, a Pentagon official said Monday that the US was “currently conducting our battle-damage assessment and inquiry into those claims,” but so far, there have been no further comments from the US military.
You know they're squirming when they don't trot out the standard "no civilians were killed during the attack".
What difference what type of bomb they used? They had their reasons to attack the target. Now it may be possible that there was bad intel on the target. But that happens in war. The Houthis chose to go "toe to toe" with Israel and the USA. People are going die and things are going to get broken in Yemen because of this decision.
The issue is "overkill", and given your past Apologetics stance for the ASI regarding its genocidal activities and unrestricted warfare in Gaza, let me explain what "overkill" means with its dictionary definition :
"the amount by which destruction or the capacity for destruction exceeds what is necessary."
The choice of munition should be scrutinized based on the target. Tell us, what bomb would YOU have chosen to destroy a migrant center full of civilians ?
My choice would've been "DANGER CLOSE – DO NOT TARGET".
You have no idea what the intel on the target was. For whatever reason, they chose to use a small and accurate bomb. This video game mentally that you and others have is amazing. The simple fact is in all wars targeting mistakes occurred. And sometimes, the value of target is high enough to warrant civilian losses. In WW2 the US Army bombed French railyards on the lead up to D-day and killed nearly 10,ooo French civilians in the campaign.
After that Signal chat debacle with US officials cheerleading the destruction of an apartment building you still have the unmitigated gall to trot out the bullshit line about intel failures. What's really amazing is you still defending the indefensible.
Now it may be possible that there was bad intel on the target.
No. It's a direct result of Trump lessening the rules of engagement. Making killing easier was a staple of his first term and now his second term as well. As for the rest of your comment, typical. Onward genocide.
What genocide? All 100 plus deaths in Houthis controlled part of Yemen is direct result of Houthis decision to attack Israel, international shipping and the US Navy.
What Comprehension…?!
The GAZA GENOCIDE moron
… And GBU-37 and possibly GBU-57 was used via B-2 on Houthis underground facilities with little success…!
So it goes……………