US Caused 4 to 12 Civilian Casualties During January’s Yemen Raid

US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Joseph said that between four and 12 casualties were caused by the US foces during counterterrorism raid in Yemen.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US counterterrorism raid in Yemen which took place in January resulted in four to 12 civilian casualties, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Joseph Votel said in congressional testimony on Thursday.

"We did cause casualties, somewhere between four and 12 casualties that I accept responsibility for," Votel told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.

On January 29, the administration of President Donald Trump ordered its first military raid against the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terror group in Yemen, which is banned in Russia.

During the operation, US special operations forces killed 14 militants. However, the raid also resulted in death of US Navy Seal William Owens and an aircraft crash-landing. Right after the operation, media reported that as many as 20 civilians may have been killed.

Votel said CENTCOM did an exhaustive after-action review of the raid and has been able to draw lessons from the experience. The commander also accepted full responsibility for the mission.

"I am responsible for this mission… We lost a lot on this operation," Votel stated. "I made the determination that there was no need for an additional investigation into this particular operation."

The US Department of Defense opened three probes into the Yemen raid: a 15-6 death investigation, an aircraft mishap probe and a civilian casualty assessment.

Votel said only the aircraft incident probe is ongoing.