YEMEN has reportedly demanded the US halt ground operations in its country unless they have permission after a raid green-lighted by Donald Trump killed civilians.
Yemeni officials are said to have confirmed their government has sent a firm message to the White House condemning the January 29 operation that left one US Navy Seal dead along with women and children.
Speaking anonymously to CNN, one official said: “The green light the US had for conducting ground missions is now red.”
This is because of the botched raid and the fact the government was not consulted about it going ahead, it’s claimed.
Foreign minister Abdul Malik Al Mekhlafi later condemned the raid in a Twitter post as “extrajudicial killings”.
Photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire caused outrage in Yemen, reports The Times.
The eight-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical cleric and US citizen who was killed in a drone strike in 2011, was reportedly among those killed.
The unnamed official said: “That’s what happens when a mission goes wrong.
“From the intelligence we have, conducting a raid was the wrong option and failure was written all over it.
“The only side that gained is al Qaeda.”
But there are conflicting reports that the Yemeni government has condemned, but stopped short of banning, the US raids.
Its exact position has yet to be announced.
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The operation, which took place on January 29, was the first military action undertaken by Donald Trump in his presidency which comes just two days after he signed an executive order banning Muslims from entry to the US.
The US military said 14 Al-Qaeda militants had died in the attack but local reports in Yemen say the figure was actually 41.
The US army also said that American troops had captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots”.
Eight women and eight children were among those killed in the dawn raid at Yakla, located in the central province of Baida, according to a local official.
The civil war in Yemen has killed more than 7,400 people since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened to support Hadi in March 2015, according to the World Health Organisation.
But UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said as many as 10,000 civilians may have died in just one week last month.
Parts of the war torn country are also suffering from a severe famine.
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