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Drone strike on wedding party in Yemen kills at least 13 civilians

Drone strike on wedding party in Yemen kills at least 13 civilians

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Drone Hearings
Drone Hearings

A drone strike killed at least 13 civilians today when a wedding convoy in Yemen was mistaken for an al-Qaeda gathering, according to a Reuters report based on local sources. Local leaders said the strike came from an unmanned drone, a tactic frequently used by US forces in contested areas. Five others were injured in the strike, which took place in the central al-Bayda region.

It's unclear whether the operation was directed by the CIA or the Pentagon, but the latest strike stands as a particularly stark example of a campaign that's become commonplace for Yemenis. On Tuesday, an unrelated strike killed between three and eight people in the Hadramout province. At the same time, political pressure in the US and abroad has been building against the military actions. In October, a Pakistani family testified before Congress about the brutal effect that drone killing campaigns have had among local populations.