UK Special Forces Accused of Involvement in US Covert Drone War in Yemen

The British government has been directly involved in the covert US drone program in Yemen, with officials cooperating with American officials in relation to secret drone strikes, it has been claimed.

While British military officials have denied any involvement in Washington's drone program in Yemen, a Vice News report claimed UK officials had exploited a legal loophole that saw military figures seconded to intelligence agencies, while those individuals would then carry out operations in Yemen under the aegis of the UK Foreign Office.

According to the report, which was based on the interviews of more than two dozen current and former British, American and Yemeni officials, British special forces played a "crucial and sustained role" in the US drone program, which included "finding and fixing targets, assessing the effect of strikes, and training Yemeni intelligence agencies to locate and identify targets for the US drone program."

It is also alleged that UK officials took part in so-called "hits" on Al-Qeada suspects and participated in a "joint operations room" alongside US and Yemeni forces.

The UK has publicly denied that it takes part in any role relating to the US drone program in Yemen, with UK Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hugh Robertson telling parliament in 2014 that: "Drone strikes against terrorist targets in Yemen are a matter for the Yemeni and US governments."

Policemen search for survivors at the site of a Saudi-led airstrike on the police headquarters in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016.

© AP Photo / Hani Mohammed

Despite public statements claiming that UK had suspended its counterterrorism program in Yemen, Ali al-Ahmadi, the former head of Yemen's secret police, told reporters British intelligence activity in the country is ongoing.

Legal Loopholes Key to Cooperation

The report also suggests that British forces are using legal loopholes that protect the UK military from meeting human rights obligations.

It is alleged that certain British military forces were seconded to the intelligence agency MI6, which subsequently resulted in the individuals being taken under the control of the Foreign Office and not the Ministry of Defense (MoD), allowing them to carry out covert operations with US forces.

@Reprieve responds to yesterday's revelations of the UK's involvement in the US drone programme in Yemen: https://t.co/JVCeEqhomW

— APPG on Drones (@APPGDrones) 8 April 2016​

Jen Gibson, staff attorney from human rights organization Reprieve, believe it was "beyond dispute" that UK forces were assisting in the controversial US drone program in Yemen.

The conflict in #Yemen has devastated the lives of children, pushing them deeper into poverty @UNICEFmena pic.twitter.com/VIZ1Qq5cbi

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) 7 April 2016​

"For years, the government has denied any involvement in US's covert drone war in Yemen, saying it's 'a matter for the states involved.' It's now beyond dispute the UK is one of those states — working hand in glove with the Americans to create the very 'kill list' that drives those strikes.

"Even more disturbing, the UK has copied wholesale the US model of outsourcing the military to the intelligence agencies in order to hide their involvement and avoid any accountability."

The US-led covert war in Yemen, which has been operational since 2001, has killed an estimated 1,651 people, including 261, according to research from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.