U.S. Drone Strike Gone Bad Kills 13 At Yemen Wedding Party
Human Rights Watch says the U.S. is responsible for dozens of wrongful deaths in this manner.
The air strike occurred on Thursday in the village of Qaifa, in Yemen’s central al-Bayda province.
A military official told Associated Press news agency that initial information indicated the drone operators mistook the wedding party for an al-Qaeda convoy. He said tribesmen known to the villagers were among the dead.
Another security official said al-Qaeda fighters were suspected to have been travelling with the wedding convoy.
Media reports said that the strike left charred bodies on the road and vehicles on fire.
Yemen is among a handful of countries where the US acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment on the practice.
The US considers Yemen’s branch of al-Qaeda to be the most active in the world.
