U.S. [terror] drone kills 21 [people] in Yemen
A U.S. [terror] drone on early Saturday killed 16 "al-Qaida militants" [people] and five civilians in Yemen' s southeastern province of al-Bayda, a Yemeni army officer said. ● The drone hit a pickup car which was carrying 16 "suspected militants" [people] in Hazmiah area of al-Bayda, about 268 km southeast of the capital Sanaa, local sources said. Five civilians passing by in a nearby car were also killed. Another six civilians travelling in another car on the highway of Hazmiah area were also wounded, witnesses said. It's the seventh of such drone strikes in the past two months.
Common Dreams: US Drone Obliterates Civilians in Yemen ■ A Yemen military official on Saturday says that at least fifteen people were either killed or wounded when a missile from a U.S. drone struck vehicles traveling on a road in the central province of al-Bayda. A pickup truck that was allegedly hit by a US drone in the al-Bayda province. Among the dead, according reports, are what the official claimed were targeted al-Qaeda militants traveling in two vehicles and also non-targeted passers-by traveling on the same road when the powerful U.S. bomb hit. According to Reuters, "tribal sources said a drone had been circling al-Bayda for days and on Saturday struck two cars the suspected militants were in. Three civilians who happened to be in a nearby car were also killed, they said." A security source told Reuters that the missile "targeted cars that suspected al Qaeda militants were in and killed 13 of them." The Associated Press, however, reports that a "Yemeni official" said nine of the victims in the attack were militants while at least six were "innocent civilians." The discrepancy in the early reporting does nothing to erase the fact that none of those killed in the bombing were given the opportunity to defend themselves or declare their innocence before being obliterated by what is assumed to be a U.S. Air Force drone operator controlling the aircraft from thousands of miles away. (Photograph: Stringer/EPA)