A deadly dawn raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen earlier this week "likely killed" civilians and could include children, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

Trump travelled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in an unexpected visit to meet with the family of William “Ryan” Owens, a chief special warfare operator who died in Sunday's raid.

"The known possible civilian casualties appear to have been potentially caught up in aerial gunfire that was called in to assist U.S. forces...," U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

The U.S. military has said 14 militants were killed in the raid in al Bayda province on a branch of al Qaeda known as AQAP. Medics at the scene, however, have said around 30 people, including 10 women and children, were killed. </s> (SANAA, Yemen) — The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaeda branch, marking the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump.

The raid left about 30 people dead, including women and children, according to an al-Qaeda official and a news service linked to the terror group. One of the children killed was Nora, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011, according to the girl's grandfather.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that Nora was visiting her mother when the surprise pre-dawn raid took place on Sunday.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."

It said militants from al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

A U.S. defense official said the raid was approved by Trump. President Barack Obama had been briefed on it before he left office on Jan. 20, but for operational reasons it was not ready to be executed before he departed, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss details beyond those announced by the Pentagon and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the raid in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaeda leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki's in-laws, is considered an ally of al-Qaeda, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaeda.

An online news serviced linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen likened the raid to a "massacre against Muslims" and said U.S. warplanes were first seen in the sky above the area at 9 p.m. Saturday and that the raid began at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with 16 missiles hitting three houses near Yakla village in Radaa district.

A two-hour gunbattle ensued after American service members landed on the ground, it said. About 30 men, women and children were killed in the raid, it added.

The killed and wounded included some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An al-Qaeda official sent to the AP Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid along with houses showing bullet holes. The official requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaeda operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals on Sunday, but the U.S. official in Washington said no detainees were taken in the raid,

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country's southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control.

Michael reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and AP National Security Writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report. </s> The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch.

It is the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump's new administration.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."

The Central Command statement said 14 militants from al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the surprise dawn assault in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

The U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An official with al-Qaida confirmed the killings, describing the attack as a "massacre" and saying that women and children had been killed as well. The official sent to The Associated Press in Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid.

The official said the Apache attack helicopters struck the area from the air before dropping commandos in for the raid, which took place near Yakla village in Radaa district. He too spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans were looking for al-Qaida leader Qassim al-Rimi, adding that they captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country's southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least seven militants were killed during a raid by U.S. Special Forces troops against an al Qaeda compound in Yemen on Tuesday morning, the Pentagon said, the deepest the United States has penetrated Yemen to target the group.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters in Washington that multiple U.S. troops were injured, but not serious enough to require medical evacuation.

Davis said it was also the first raid in the Marib governorate and an AC-130 gunship was called in after a firefight broke out.

“The intent of this raid was to disrupt AQAP operations,” Davis said, using an acronym for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Local tribesmen confirmed a raid in Marib, which is controlled by forces loyal to the Western-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, but said five people were killed and six others were wounded, all from the same extended family.

It was the latest operation by U.S. forces against the Yemen-based AQAP, which has exploited a two-year-old civil war between the Iran-aligned Houthi and Hadi’s Saudi-backed government to enhance its influence in the impoverished country.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement the AQAP militants were killed “through a combination of small-arms fire and precision air strikes” in Marib, with the support of the Yemeni government.

“Raids such as this provide insight into AQAP’s disposition, capabilities and intentions, which will allow us to continue to pursue, disrupt, and degrade AQAP,” the statement said.

Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters separately that the raid was carried out 40-45 km (25-30 miles) north of another U.S. raid that took place in late January.

Two sources in Marib said that the attack began with drone strikes at a house in the southern Marib governorate near the border with the al-Bayda governorate, followed by automatic fire from low-flying helicopters.

They said that five members of their al-Moradi clan, a main tribe in Marib, had died in the operation and six others were wounded, adding that they were all civilians.

Davis said at this point there was no credible indication that there were civilian casualties in the raid.

The operation was the first ground raid in Yemen since the operation in January, which was hailed as a success by the White House and other U.S. officials.

However, critics questioned the value of the mission after a U.S. Navy Seal was killed. Women and children, as well as several militants, were also killed.

The U.S. military has carried out more than 80 strikes in Yemen against al Qaeda militants since February.

The group boasts one of the world’s most feared bomb makers, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, and AQAP has been a persistent concern to the U.S. government since an attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009. </s> The United States military said a raid against an al Qaeda compound in Yemen on Tuesday morning killed seven militants, with two U.S. officials saying the primary objective of the raid was to gather intelligence. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants were killed "through a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes" in the Marib governorate with the support of the Yemeni government.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters. </s> The United States military said a raid against an al Qaeda compound in Yemen on Tuesday morning (local time) killed seven militants, with two U.S. officials saying the primary objective of the raid was to gather intelligence.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants were killed "through a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes" in the Marib governorate with the support of the Yemeni government.

The two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters separately that there were no known U.S. injuries or casualties and the raid was carried out 40 km (25 miles) to 45 km (28 miles) north of a controversial U.S. raid in late January. </s> SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday that one service member was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch, marking the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump.

The raid left about 30 people dead, including women and children, according to an al-Qaida official and a news service linked to the terror group. One of the children killed was Nora, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011, according to the girl’s grandfather.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that Nora was visiting her mother when the surprise pre-dawn raid took place on Sunday.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a “hard landing” in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was “intentionally destroyed.”

It said militants from al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen, formally known as “al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula,” were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members taking part in the raid captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

A U.S. defense official said the raid was approved by Trump. President Barack Obama had been briefed on it before he left office on Jan. 20, but for operational reasons it was not ready to be executed before he departed, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss details beyond those announced by the Pentagon and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the raid in Yemen’s central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki’s in-laws, is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

An online news serviced linked to al-Qaida in Yemen likened the raid to a “massacre against Muslims” and said U.S. warplanes were first seen in the sky above the area at 9 p.m. Saturday and that the raid began at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with 16 missiles hitting three houses near Yakla village in Radaa district.

A two-hour gunbattle ensued after American service members landed on the ground, it said. About 30 men, women and children were killed in the raid, it added.

The killed and wounded included some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An al-Qaida official sent to the AP Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid along with houses showing bullet holes. The official requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals on Sunday, but the U.S. official in Washington said no detainees were taken in the raid,

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen’s civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen’s president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country’s southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control. </s> ANAA, Yemen (AP) — The Latest on a U.S. raid targeting al-Qaida militants in Yemen (all times local):

The U.S. military says a service member has been killed and three others wounded in raid in Yemen targeting a local al-Qaida affiliate.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Sunday that another service member was injured in a “hard landing” in a nearby location.

It says the aircraft was unable to fly afterward and “was then intentionally destroyed in place.”

It says 14 fighters from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in the assault and that U.S. service members captured “information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the assault in central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders.

Yemeni security and tribal officials say the U.S. has launched a raid in central Yemen, landing troops off of aircraft and killing three alleged senior al-Qaida leaders in a battle on the ground.

They say the Sunday attack at dawn in Bayda province killed Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims. The al-Dhahab family is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which security forces say is concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a previous U.S. drone strike years ago.

They say the fighting lasted around 45 minutes and that the U.S. troops killed or wounded some two dozen men, including some Saudis present at the site.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

This is a developing story. Stay with 8News online and on air for the latest updates.

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Find 8News on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; send your news tips to iReport8@wric.com. </s> SANAA, Yemen — The U.S. military said Sunday that one servicemember was killed and three others wounded in a raid in Yemen targeting its local al-Qaida branch, marking the first-known combat death of a member of the U.S. military under President Donald Trump.

The raid left about 30 people dead, including women and children, according to an al-Qaida official and a news service linked to the terror group. One of the children killed was Nora, the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Yemeni-American cleric killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011, according to the girl's grandfather.

Nasser al-Awlaki told The Associated Press that Nora was visiting her mother when the surprise pre-dawn raid took place on Sunday.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that a fourth service member was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. The aircraft was unable to fly afterward and was "intentionally destroyed."

It said militants from al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, formally known as "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," were killed in the assault and that U.S. servicemembers taking part in the raid captured "information that will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots."

A U.S. defense official said the raid was approved by Trump. President Barack Obama had been briefed on it before he left office on Jan. 20, but for operational reasons it was not ready to be executed before he departed, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss details beyond those announced by the Pentagon and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the raid in Yemen's central Bayda province killed three senior al-Qaida leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims.

The al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki's in-laws, is considered an ally of al-Qaida, which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda province. A third family member, Tarek al-Dhahab, was killed in a U.S. drone strike several years ago. It was not immediately clear whether the family members were actual members of al-Qaida.

An online news serviced linked to al-Qaida in Yemen likened the raid to a "massacre against Muslims" and said U.S. warplanes were first seen in the sky above the area at 9 p.m. Saturday and that the raid began at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with 16 missiles hitting three houses near Yakla village in Radaa district.

A two-hour gunbattle ensued after American servicemembers landed on the ground, it said. About 30 men, women and children were killed in the raid, it added.

The killed and wounded included some Saudis present at the site, according to the Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists.

An al-Qaida official sent to the AP Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid along with houses showing bullet holes. The official requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Just over a week ago, suspected U.S. drone strikes killed three other alleged al-Qaida operatives in Bayda in what was the first-such killings reported in the country since Trump assumed the U.S. presidency.

The tribal officials said the Americans captured and departed with at least two unidentified individuals on Sunday, but the U.S. official in Washington said no detainees were taken in the raid,

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen's civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

The war began in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition has been helping government forces battle the rebels for nearly two years.

Separately, Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day earlier called for the remnants of his parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country's southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control.

Michael reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and AP National Security Writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.
A U.S. military raid takes place in Yemen's southern Al Bayda Governorate. According to medics on the scene as reported by Reuters, "around 30" were killed, among which were at least three senior Al-Qaeda members, at least one U.S. service member, and 10 women and children.