Amnesty International said yesterday it has evidence that points to US involvement in airstrikes on suspected al-Qaida hideouts in Yemen late last year, and criticized Washington for allegedly using cluster munitions and not taking precautions to avoid civilian casualties.
There are differing accounts of the Dec. 17 attack in the al-Majalah area of the southern Yemeni province of Abyan. Yemeni security officials originally said 34 al-Qaida militants were killed, although a Yemeni parliamentary committee later said in its report on the strike that 41 civilians were killed in the attack as well as militants.
The US has not officially confirmed a role in the airstrikes, although US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case, have previously acknowledged involvement.
In a statement released yesterday, Amnesty said that it has five photographs apparently taken after the attack that indicate the use of cruise missiles and cluster munitions.
“The fact that so many of the victims were actually women and children indicates that the attack was in fact grossly irresponsible, particularly given the likely use of cluster munitions,” Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program, Philip Luther said.
Copies of the photographs provided by Amnesty show twisted scraps of what appear to be missiles fragments. The group does not say how it obtained the photographs and their authenticity could not be immediately verified.
Amnesty said the photos show the payload and body segments of a US-manufactured BGM-109D Tomahawk cruise missile. It said such missiles, which can be launched from a warship or a submarine, are designed to carry a payload of cluster munitions that scatter over a vast area, and are only used by US forces.
“Based on the evidence provided by these photographs, the US government must disclose what role it played in the al-Ma’jalah attack, and all governments involved must show what steps they took to prevent unnecessary deaths and injuries,” Luther said.
At least 30 countries have ratified a new international convention banning cluster munitions. The US did not join the treaty.
Yemeni authorities have said their security forces carried out the December strikes and Washington has not officially acknowledged its role.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman referred questions on the Dec. 17 strike to the Yemeni government. But he also commended San’a for “dealing with the al-Qaida threat in their nation.”
The US strongly supports action against the terror group in Yemen, he said.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of